Bloodred Days Of Darkness
by FionawithAngels
Summary: 'Lisbon' Jane yelled. 'Clear' Rigsby yelled from the kitchen. 'Clear' Abbott yelled from the backyard. Cho rushed down the stairs. 'She's not here.' he said. Grace came down after him.'Lisbon's nowhere to be seen." Where is she? What he read in the letter, killed him. Jane was perfectly happy with his fresh start. But what threw his life off the cliff? Want to know?Read on
1. Prologue the family

For most people, sitting with a classic for four hours straight would be a tremendous effort and a time of tedious and monotonous work. It would make them tired and frustrated, like a chore been forced to do at sword point. Like a painful task pushed to be done under duress.

But Patrick Jane wasn't most people. Reading was a distraction he always appreciated. Bliss unleashed from countless pages with nothing but words. Paradise experienced from understanding the tale. He would love getting lost in the chapters, entranced by the splendor and beauty of the story. And even after returning to reality from his world of fantasies, he would think about it for days-maybe even months, transforming the words into bricks for his "memory palace". He had decided that reading would forever bring him eternal joy and moments he would cherish during unhappy and hard times.

But, currently, he was happy. Sitting with _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ in his hands. Shakespeare always kept him relaxed. A bit of an odd thing for him really. Unlike most people in this world, Patrick Jane worshipped Shakespeare. For him, his works were just another form of intricate and complex art. A beautiful thing which needs a bit of brushing and coaxing. Shakespeare would keep him active and going, making him see the meaning of life through his works. And Patrick Jane, of course, comprehended the statement as a true and pure one.

But just as he was thinking about this, he discovered a set of green eyes peeking at him from behind the door of the study.

'Annie, Daddy will always win at hide and seek. Why don't you come out now since I've won?

Angelina stepped out of her hideout, grumbling quietly about being found. But her annoyance quickly vanished as she flew across the room into her father's waiting arms.

Jane loved it when she did that. She was just so full of life. Always cheerful and active. People said she looked like Jane, with her waist-long blonde curls and height. But Jane thought she looked just like her mother. She had jade green eyes and a round, pink face. Even her mom's cranky behavior got passed down to her. Though he does teach her a few tricks then and now. The moments he really cherished were playing with Angelina. He loved her for that.

'What's wrong, kid? Why're you hiding?' he asked.

'Shh!' she hissed. 'I'm hiding from mommy.'

 _That's interesting_ , he thought. _What's Lisbon done this time?_

'Annie!' Lisbon yelled. 'Not again, sweetie, please! Come here!'

'Hide me.' she begged, and ducked under the study table.

Lisbon sashayed into the room with a glass of milk. _That explains things._ He thought. He knew how Angelina detested milk. That got passed down from him.

'Jane, you seen Annie?' she huffed.

'Nope.' he lied, returning to his book.

She looked suspicious a moment but then sighed. 'Goddamn it.' she muttered. But then she yelled at the top of her voice;

'ANGELINA LISBON JANE! Do NOT give me anymore pain than you already do!'

Jane felt his eardrums burst. His wife could be sweet when she wanted to be but he did _not_ like her getting mad. It gave him a serious migraine.

'Comes back the mighty Agent Teresa Lisbon.' he mocked

She sneered at him. 'Shut up, Patrick Jane! All of this is your fault!'

He was very much taken aback with that. 'How is it my fault?' he demanded.

She just stomped her foot hard and snorted loudly. She then went out looking for Annie.

Jane sighed. Even if he tried a thousand times, he won't be able to completely read Teresa Lisbon.

Under the table, Angelina squirmed uncomfortably. As he thought, she was exactly like Lisbon. She hated being responsible for other people's troubles. She didn't like it when Lisbon yelled at him because of her. But he made her admit she enjoys it a little, her out-of-control father being punished.

'You can come out, sweetheart.' He said. 'Momma's gone.'

Slowly she peeked out from under the table, looking around to check if he was lying. She then sat on Jane's lap. 'Sorry, Daddy.' she sniffled.

Jane realized she was crying. _My poor baby._ 'No, no sweetie.' he soothed her. 'It wasn't your fault at all.'

'But it _was_.' she said.

'No it wasn't.' he insisted.

She smiled a little. That made him happy. He hated seeing his daughter sad. She looked beautiful when she smiled. _Just like her mom_ , he thought.

But just then, Lisbon dashed into the room with the milk and a crazed expression.' Ah ha!' she shouted. 'I knew it!' But then her expression became sympathetic. 'Jane, Jane.' she sang. 'Your tricks never did work on me, did they?'

'Well...I _try_ though. Everybody tries, don't they?'

She laughed, and that was when Jane thought she looked beautiful. Her black hair was now waist-long. She became a little thinner, which worried Jane. Her eyes were still clear and emerald green. She wore a red t-shirt and black, loose pants.

'But the attempt will always remain a failure, won't it?' she joked.

'It could...' he said. 'But it won't.'

'We'll see.' she challenged. But then she glared at her daughter. 'You, young lady, are not going to bed until you finish your milk!' Annie shrank, 'Momma! No milk! I hate milk!' she wailed.

Lisbon shot Jane a withering glare. She figured it's his fault Annie hates milk, since he does too. Also he found her upset that Annie got his tea-drinking habit. Because just then she said, 'Momma, give me tea. I want tea! No milk!'

Lisbon glared at Jane some more. Then she said 'Do you want Momma to cry, Annie?'

Annie looked guilty 'No Mommy.'

She looked at the five-year old with a soft expression. 'Are you going to finish your milk now?'

Annie looked at the glass a moment, disgustedly. But then she took it and finished it in four gulps.

'There.' she muttered. 'Happy?'

Lisbon laughed and held Annie close to her. 'Momma is very happy.' she replied.

The toddler laughed too. Lisbon then told Jane to give Annie a shower, which he did. Afterwards Lisbon brushed Annie's teeth. She then read her story, gave her a kiss and tucked her into bed.

She then walked to the room with Jane, holding hands. After a while Jane said 'Very good Lisbon. You're learning.'

She frowned. 'Learning what?'

'Blackmailing.' he replied

She blushed a little. 'I did not.' She said.

'Oh come on.' He protested. 'You think I didn't notice?'

She smiled. 'Fifteen years working with Patrick Jane does the trick.'

She reached up on her toes and kissed him tenderly. Then she said 'Let's go to bed. We have work tomorrow.' And so, together they went into their rom and shut the door.

 **End of Chapter 1.**

 **I am only 13. Sorry if it's messed up.**

 **More chapters coming!**

 **Tell me if you liked it.**


	2. Blackening the Rose

Jane couldn't sleep. Too much was going on his mind and he needed to think about everything. He looked over in his bed and saw Lisbon sleeping beside him. He never saw her more beautiful as tonight. He slept with the windows open as he was claustrophobic. The moon was full and brightly lit. The light passed through the windows and fell on Lisbon's face, making her look like a fantasy from a fairy tale. Like an angel. She smiled in her sleep. She had her hands folded under her head. Her face was flushed, her lips were pink and her eyelids were dusted with flecks of silver moonlight. It brought tears to his eyes. Her beauty and her glow. He sighed as he caressed her face. He needed to think about things, but Lisbon was being an annoying but beautiful distraction. He kissed her cheek and quickly slipped off the bed, careful not to wake her. He then padded down the hall into the house's main balcony, specked brightly with moonlight.

 **LISBON**

She sensed Jane awake. She also felt his eyes on her, exploring her face. She felt water droplets falling to her face. Was Jane crying? She wanted to bolt upright and soothe him, ask him what was wrong. But she kept her eyes closed, thinking Jane needed some space. She felt him caress her face and she stayed still, jolly from his touch. She heard him sigh. Then Jane kissed her cheek and slipped off the bed. She felt him looking at her, being careful not to wake her. Then she heard footsteps padding down the main corridor.

She waited until the sound vanished. Then she slipped off her bed in her nightgown and followed him.

The corridor sparkled with moonlight passing through the balcony. Lisbon walked through silver into the favorite part of her house.

Lisbon always adored the balcony. The view from there stretched right away to the Pine Mountains. Every night, the sky would glitter with stars, flecked across the horizon like shattered diamonds. Some days it would be cloudless, with the moon shining in harmony. Some days the moon fairly peeked through black cotton, with stars spread all over. Some days none could be seen at all. There would only be heaps of black humps of cotton. What Lisbon found amusing was the sky reflected her mood. When she was angry, it was cloudy. When she was gloomy, it was fairly good. But on happy days, the sky showed its greatest beauty. No clouds to express sadness. The balcony, for her, was her own piece of heaven, tucked away in Earth. It was Paradise.

She saw Jane by the railing, looking very pensive. He didn't even notice her coming. That worried her. Patrick Jane could tell even if an ant moved out of place. His arms were folded across his chest. His hair shone with silver. He looked like he was in pain.

Lisbon quietly walked over. She put her hand on his shoulder. He turned around abruptly, very startled. His sea-blue eyes looked black. His face looked pale and translucent. He was sweating bullets.

'What're you doing here, Jane?' she asked.

'I could be asking you the same thing.' he said nonchalantly.

Lisbon flinched. Her Jane was never unhappy. He was always full of life. There would always be a grin on his face. Some which she came to love, some which she hated. She loved the man for being optimistic.

Yet here he was, pale and grim like he had nothing to live for. This made her anxious. _Something's wrong_ she thought. _This is not the man I fell in love with._ She was mad right now. Jane had to explain.

'Are you sick?' she demanded anxiously, putting a hand to his forehead.

Jane held her waist lightly. 'No I'm not sick. I just...'

She twined her hands around his neck. 'Just what?

He didn't answer. He just looked at her with black eyes.

She caressed his cheek. 'Jane you can tell me. We promised we won't keep secrets from each other.'

He exhaled. 'It's just that...a stupid mistake I made cost my family their lives.' His voice broke. 'I still remember what I felt when I opened that door. Blood...Red John...My family... It was like my whole life shattered into pieces. As if I was a body without a soul. A soul without a heart. My blood boiled with hatred. My life melted with a thirst for vengeance. I vowed I won't rest until I avenged my family. That's why I came to the CBI...where I met you.' He smiled a little.

But then his face flared. 'I hoped I would find him. Tear him into pieces the way he tore my wife and child. I became a maniac, chasing him beyond extents. And after fooling around for nine years, I quenched my thirst. I killed him. Never did I imagine it won't wash away my guilt. I knew it was my fault. I knew I was to blame. I knew it was my fault they were gone. I knew I could never redeem myself. But I was a monster. So I felt at peace after killing him. I never realized that Angela and Charlotte would be torn. That they would have hated me for being a killer. Because as I said, I was a monster. But then...' He started smiling.

'I missed you so much. You were the one who gave me hope. So I came back for you, knowing you would never want me to give up. I still thought I might have a chance with you. Now you're here with me. And I have an angel for a daughter. But what if...' His voice broke. 'What if I make a mistake again? What if I lose you two? All that pain, that hatred, that anger...I don't want to feel that again. I would never forgive myself. I don't want my life ruined. I want it happy with you and my daughter. But what if I destroy it? What if I destroy _us_?'

Jane sobbed. Lisbon couldn't see him like this. Her heart froze in grief. All this while, her Jane had been keeping this pain and guilt hidden inside him, pretending to be happy because of her and Angelina. She felt so useless for not understanding earlier. But he was wrong. They would _not_ give up on each other. They would _not_ hurt each other.

They would not _lose_ each other.

She wiped his tears away. 'Don't worry.' she said, crying herself. 'That won't happen. It's an impossibility. I love you and I will do anything to protect you. We will stay together. If you can't hold on for me, hold on for our daughter. She needs you. _I_ need you. I want the Jane I fell in love with. And I want _him_ to stay with me forever.'

Jane looked hopeful at her words. She felt that things would finally get right and be perfect. She wanted some peace for a change. Jane was with her. So was Annie. Her package deal of heaven. She wanted nothing more at all.

Jane reached down and kissed her softly. When he rose, Lisbon saw tears in his eyes again. This time not of grief, but of happiness. Lisbon smiled at her moonlit husband and together, holding hands, they went back to bed.

Neither noticed the black shadow behind the trees, blackening their red rose of bliss.

 _The man was dressed in a black sweatshirt and jeans. He had a gun in his left hand while dialing a number on his cellphone. He was well-hidden from the moonlight under the pine tree. As the dial ringed, dread staggered his breath. He was terrified of the man. Even though the man promised him no harm, he was still suspicious. He saw wicked blades and pins on his worktable stained with the blood of his victims. That did not assure him of the man's promise either._

 _At the sixth ring, a cold and lifeless voice greeted him from the other side. That voice chilled his blood to the core of his bones._

' _Hello, dear boy.' The voice said. 'To what news do I meet the pleasure of having your acquaintance?' he said in a chilly way._

 _Now he felt like he would faint with fright. 'Patrick Jane and Teresa Lisbon are wed.' He replied._

' _Oh, really? How wonderful! But how disappointing that I couldn't bless them on their happiness,' replied the voice sadly. 'I must have been very unwelcome to Patrick. I should have become a good friend of his.' The voice sighed._

' _They even have a daughter.' he replied._

'Oh la la! _A little bundle of joy I see! Ah, I wish I could see her. I would have given the baby my blessing too. Hmm, I must say I am disappointed Patrick kept secrets from me. Such glorious and important ones. Next time Patrick and I meet, I will congratulate him on his happiness and life. There must be more beautiful secrets he conceals. Priceless ones which need attention and good hands. As well as congratulating. Would you be kind enough to watch them overnight?' the voice replied._

' _Certainly, sire.' He said._

' _Thank you for your kindness. If you find out anything, please be a dear man and let me know.' the voice replied._

' _Certainly, sire.' he said_

' _Tiger, tiger?' The voice asked, cheerfully and frostily._

' _Tiger, tiger.' he replied._

 _The phone disconnected._

 _And as he walked by the alley to their backyard, three red dots could be seen on his shoulder under the cold, full moon spreading its light._

 **End of chapter two.**

 **I'll try to update often.**

 **Tell me what it's like.**


	3. Losing her

The next morning, Jane forgot all about yesterday night. He knew he had to hold up. Lisbon was right. His daughter needed him. He couldn't run away like a coward. Lisbon would be torn. He _would_ stay strong for his daughter. For Lisbon. For himself. From now on, he won't give fake smiles and hurt Lisbon. From now on his smiles will be real.

He finished his tea as he puzzled this over. He went to his room and saw Lisbon sleeping. Usually she hit the dawn first. Perhaps she was exhausted from last night. He felt guilty for ruining her night. The least he could do was let her sleep. He kissed her cheek and then went to Annie's room. When he saw his sleeping angel, he smiled. He kissed her hair which smelled like strawberries. He stared at her for a moment and realized he was already late for a conference meeting. He took the car keys from the dining room and locked the main door from the outside. Lisbon had a spare key so she'll be fine. He came to the garage and drove away to the FBI in his car.

He still remembered his first day in the bureau. He was a wanted criminal hunted by the FBI for killing Thomas McAllister. Or Red John. He fled to an island opposite to the borders of America. He had stayed there for two years, thinking he didn't have anything to come back for.

But even Patrick Jane can be wrong sometimes.

He thought he embraced the present and forgot the past. He thought he would spend his whole life repenting for his foolish mistakes. He thought he was still a lifeless man, still lost, desperately looking for a way out of his sins.

Writing to Lisbon was the only thing which kept him alive.

Every day he would write to her. And every day he longed for a reply. And every day he would lose hope when he didn't get a reply. But he knew the FBI was watching Lisbon. She was the closest person to Jane, leaving him to no wonder why the FBI was channeling her every movement. His heart ached with the desire to see her. To tell her everything he couldn't tell her when they were together. He had a CBI team photo, killing him into remembering how much he had lost. He knew he couldn't come back for Lisbon even if he wanted to.

Until his encounter with Dennis Abbott.

Jane was good at reading people, and he always patted himself on the back for it. However, Abbott was an interesting piece. He knew he was devising a trick when he offered Jane that deal. He was almost going to say no, but then he thought about Lisbon.

He told Abbott he would come if Lisbon was employed with him. The criminal charges had to be dropped. And he needed his couch.

 _The couch_ he thought. Lisbon always thought how hilarious it was that he could be attached to a piece of furniture that way. Jane always chuckled in response and said nothing. The mere memory of those days made him smile.

As soon as he parked in the FBI lot, he could see Grace Van Pelt running towards him, grinning like crazy. The redhead was a wonder woman for Jane. Mysterious, but still clear as crystal. He was glad, almost relieved, that Wayne Rigsby wouldn't ask him again for love advice, now that he got her. They even had kids, which was the best deal a guy like him could ever imagine.

He wondered why she was acting jumpy. 'Hey Grace.' he said as she stopped in front of him. 'What's with the excitement?' he asked.

She gaped at him in horror. As if he grew an extra leg. He checked if he had, and sure enough he hadn't. 'You forgot?' she demanded.

Jane couldn't forget anything. His memory palace was as strong as iron. He thought it was impossible for him to forget something. But something about Grace's reaction bothered him. If he had forgotten something, and he was sure he didn't, maybe it was something very important.

'Forgot what?' he asked.

Her eyes became the size of golf balls in shock. 'Patrick Jane you are definitely the most annoying person in this world!' she cried. 'No wonder Lisbon's sick of you!'

'Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up. I'm sorry for forgetting _something-only-you-know-about._ Could you please tell me what it is now?' he demanded.

She sighed and shook her head sorrowfully. 'What's the date today?' she asked scornfully.

'June 21st.' he replied automatically.

'Go on...' she said.

Just then, he remembered something. Lisbon in the hospital...the sounds of a baby crying...his joy as he cradled an angel and smiled at his wife...

His mind was struck with horror. How _on earth_ could he forget something so important? He was beating himself up with guilt. He figured he owed Grace all his life for reminding him.

'Ring a bell?' she said tiredly.

'Grace, I...' he started.

'It's okay.' she said. 'I got everything ready in case of a _neglecting father._ ' She frowned. 'You owe me big time.'

'You really are the Wonder Woman, Van Pelt.' he said. 'I'll die after I've settled the debt. Not before that.' He promised

She rolled her eyes. 'Yeah, yeah, save it for later.' she snorted. 'Now come on. We still need to decorate the room.'

'I thought everything was ready.' he joked.

She punched his arm. Even for a light one, it really hurt. He decided he won't bug anyone today. He messed up enough today. He decided he won't call Lisbon. He figured she was in on this plan from the beginning, checking he'll remember. He failed this test. He forgot his _daughter's birthday_. Lisbon was right. Jane can never read her well enough.

With guilt and joy in his heart, he entered the FBI building with Grace, with Wayne and Cho waiting at the stairs.

Marcus Pike looked from behind the bushes. Patrick Jane left for work about ten minutes ago. He was told to call 'him' after he left. He got his cellphone out of his sweatshirt pocket. He then dialed the number and waited as it ringed.

His blood boiled with hatred for Patrick Jane. He took away everything he had. He stole the woman he once loved. The woman who was his fiancée. He imagined the life he could have had with Teresa. A home, a family, kids even. He imagined kissing her as their kids played in their backyard. He fantasied a million dreams he could have shared with her.

Until Patrick Jane broke everything into meaningless shards.

The phone connected. 'Why, hello, Marcus?' the voice said sweetly. 'What news do you bear for me?'

'Patrick Jane just left the house.' he replied emotionlessly.

'Ah.' the voice said. 'The time comes Marcus. Are you prepared?'

'Yes, sire.' he said.

'Then let the battle commence.' he said frostily. 'Tiger, tiger?'

'Tiger, tiger.' he replied.

The man hung up. Marcus had to get to work immediately. He did not think Red John liked delays.

Jane was swept off his feet by the spectacle. Pink curtains draped every inch of the hall. Pink roses were attached to every nook and cranny. Pink candles lined every single one of the tables. The tablecloths were baby pink. The cake was a six pound cake with sugar roses attached to every side of it. It was strawberry flavored, Annie's favorite. It was pink-themed, also Annie's favorite. The place looked magical. But it also looked like a strawberry ice cream exploded in here.

'I'm dreaming.' Jane said, mesmerized.

'No you're not.' said Cho.

'I know this comes as a surprise, but my wife is excellent in everything.' Rigsby bragged.

'Well I owe your wife.' Jane sighed.

'Oh yes you do.' Grace said, putting pink candles on the cake.

'I still don't believe you forgot your kid's birthday.' said Cho nonchalantly.

'Please guys.' Jane begged. 'Don't make me faint with guilt. I already want to my drown myself.'

'Why don't you do it?' Rigsby asked eagerly. 'Good riddance.'

'Wayne!' Grace chided.

'Ok, ok.' he said. 'I'm just trying to have some fun.'

Grace laughed. Even Cho was smiling a little. But Jane was still guilty. Cho patted his shoulder. 'It's okay, man.' he said. 'We all forget stuff.'

He needed to redeem himself. Or he'll never stop feeling guilty. He started helping Rigsby with the curtains. He waited for Lisbon to come and scold him, and get her daughter to join in the act too.

Marcus entered the house through the living room window. He took a look around. It was a nice house. But he had to get his work done. He would admire the house later.

He went up the stairs and opened the door to a queen-sized room. It was pink in color, with teddy bears all over the floor. There was a bookshelf in the corner, and a wardrobe. There was a nursery chair and table with coloring utensils spread untidily all over it. Beside the east window there was a small bed with a toddler under the covers. He figured that was his daughter. She slept soundly, not noticing he was there despite the noise he made.

He tore a piece of paper from an art book. Then he started writing a letter in red crayon. Patrick Jane had a surprise waiting for him. He went downstairs and put the note on the dining table. Then he climbed the stairs again in search of Teresa's room.

 _Teresa_. He couldn't even think about her name without opening a box of pain and misery. He was almost having second thoughts about what he was going to do. But then, Red John told him that the only way he could get her back was carrying out the plot. He took out the napkin from his pocket and checked if he had the liquid with him. The pharmacist said it would take five seconds to make someone unconscious with the liquid.

He opened the door to a king sized bed. There by the east window, on a bed, lay the love of his life. She looked too beautiful. He almost wanted to go lie down beside her and never let her go. But first things first. He would have to wait a little longer to be with her.

He poured three drops of the liquid on the handkerchief. He checked if she was awake. When he saw she wasn't, he put the handkerchief over her mouth and nose. Her eyebrows furrowed, but only for two seconds. They smoothed and she was unconscious in no time. He checked her breathing. It was slow but steady. The first phase of the plan was complete. He lifted her into his arms and carried her out of the house. He put her in the passenger seat of his black Sedan. Feeling victorious, he drove her away from the house and, quite possibly, from Jane's life.

It was 11:30 am and Lisbon was still not at work. Everyone knew Lisbon was always the first to arrive after Jane. The candles melted to nothing. The roses were losing their perfume. The cake was melting. And worst of all, the guests were grumbling.

Abbott came to Jane after conversing with Grace. He was looking very annoyed and very hungry. He scowled at him with his arms crossed across his chest.

'Jane, where's Lisbon?' he asked in a steely voice.

'She'll be here any minute.' he assured him, looking at the door and waiting for her.

'You've been saying that for an hour or so.' he replied through his teeth.

Jane looked at him. Now, Abbott looked _mad_. His face was red and it looked like it was about to explode. But he couldn't blame him. The guests were hungry and waiting.

Besides...Lisbon was never late for anything. Even if she were late, she would call him and tell him so. He didn't hear from her since morning.

Something was wrong. He knew deep down in his heart that something wasn't right. Something happened. And he was starting to hyperventilate.

'Wayne! Cho! Grace!' he yelled.

They immediately came running towards him. They were worried too, he could see. 'What's wrong Jane?' asked Cho.

'Something's wrong.' he said. 'Lisbon would never be this late if it weren't for a problem.'

They all looked at each other and nodded their heads in unison.

'I need to find her.' he said. 'Will you come with me?' his voice broke.

'Of course.' they said.

They went to the weapons' room to get their guns, leaving Jane behind.

'Dennis, please.' he said. 'Will you come too?'

'I'll get my gun.' he said and left Jane panicking in the entrance corridor.

After a while, they all came back with their bulletproof vests and guns. They went to the garage together and drove to Jane's house in the FBI's official van.

It took time. The traffic in Texas was horrible. After about forty minutes they all got to the house. Jane saw the door unlocked. That wasn't possible because he specifically remembered locking the door before going out. That made him lose control. He flew through the door with the others at his tail.

'Lisbon!' he yelled.

'I'll go check the room.' said Cho. He sped up the stairs towards their room.

'I'll check on Annie.' said Grace and went to Annie's room.

'Clear!' Rigsby yelled from the kitchen.

'Clear!' Abbott yelled from the backyard.

Cho rushed down the stairs. 'She's not here.' he said

Grace came down after him. Her eyes were wide open in shock. 'Annie's sleeping. But Lisbon's nowhere to be seen.'

 _Where could she be?_ He thought in despair. She'd never leave Angelina behind. She is around here someone. They should search more...

But as the others continued searching, his eye fell on a note on the dining table. Thinking it was from Lisbon, he rushed to the note, nearly ripping it while he opened it in haste.

What was written shattered his heart into bleeding glass shards.

Hello Patrick.

I must say i am disappointed that you did not notify me of your joy. As i am eager to learn more, I have taken Teresa away on a vacation with me. I hope you won't mind. Thank you.

Red john

His soul blackened. His blood felt like acid running through his veins. No it's not possible. It is _not_ possible. He finished the beast himself. He watched him die by his own hands. He watched him lose his breath and die in pain. He couldn't come back. He just _couldn't_. This has to be something else. It has to be...

But right then his world started spinning, filling his heart with poison and hate. Tainting is soul with grief and guilt. He collapsed onto the floor, wishing he could evaporate into the air and never come back...

 **End of chapter 3**

 **More Chapters Coming!**

 **What is it like? Tell me!**


	4. Death in life

Patrick Jane woke up to the sound of monitors and beeping. And also to the sound of Grace Van Pelt's voice muttering anxiously to someone on a phone line.

'...put a BOLO on him...Thomas McAllister. Yeah, Wylie, you heard me. Thomas McAllister.' she said tiredly. There was a pause. 'Wylie, I'll explain everything. But not now. Just tell everyone at the bureau to stay calm. Put a search warrant out for Special Agent Teresa Lisbon Jane.' There was another pause. 'I'll tell you later Wylie, not now. Make sure you handle the situation and make sure no one's panicking. Tell social services to get to Jane's house and retrieve Angelina. Yeah, bye.' she replied and hung up.

When her eyes fell on Jane, who was very much awake and conscious, her eyes widened in shock. As if she couldn't believe he was alive even after this disaster. She rushed to his side and put a hand on his forehead.

'How're you feeling?' she asked hesitantly.

Jane saw that when she said it, she immediately regretted it. Her body tensed and her eyebrows furrowed. He knew she felt stupid for asking such a question. As for her question, he felt hollow. He felt empty and lifeless. He felt like he were falling, and that even the whole world together could try and not keep him from falling. His head crushed in darkness. And he felt like the ground had been snatched away from beneath his feet. He felt his blood stop running, and his heart stop beating. He desperately looked for a way to escape, to get enough life to at least help him reply Van Pelt. But he was locked in an abyss full of darkness and loss.

When Jane didn't reply, Grace became worried. She wondered how he felt, and immediately realized that it was an equally irrational thought as her question. Of course he didn't feel okay. Events from his previous life were being recollected. And she hated herself for knowing she couldn't help him. Jane was going through this himself, and she hated knowing that he had to suffer all the pain alone. She scrutinized Jane carefully. Nothing was moving in him except for his chest which told her that he was breathing steadily. His eyes were a shade of stormy gray, but they looked like hollow pits. His skin looked translucent and white. His blonde hair gleamed with sweat. He looked torn. Absolutely torn. His eyes were directed towards the ceiling, as if he saw something there that no one else could. But then she watched as he drifted to unconsciousness and heard as the slow-paced beeping of the monitor steadied to a normal pace.

She stayed still for a few minutes until his breathing became heavy. She ran her hand through his forehead, hoping to soothe him. After a few minutes, Annie walked through the door with Rigsby at her heels. She laughed at the sight of Grace. She jogged across the room into Grace's waiting embrace. She climbed onto her lap and stared intently at her eyes.

'Aunt Grace!' she hollered. 'I miss you! You don't stay with me at home!'

Grace's eyes itched, being at the verge of tears, at this creature's angelic innocence and happiness. How on earth could she tell her that they lost her mother, and her father too?

'Hey, baby girl.' she whispered. 'I miss you too. We have work, you know. But when I finish work, you'll see me at your door, waiting for you with hugs and chocolate chip cookies.'

Annie screamed delightfully at her reply. But then she looked around anxiously. 'Where's Mommy?' she whined. 'She is not at home. She is not at work. She is not with Uncle Wayne or Aunt Michelle. Where is Momma? I miss her.' she sniffled.

Grace was crying now. She looked at Wayne who was beginning to come forward, but then swayed her hand, telling him not to. He stepped backwards and stayed there, tensed. She looked at Annie. She was so beautiful. And so happy. She wasn't going to tell her the truth, she _wasn't_. It would break her heart beyond repair.

Annie's eyebrows furrowed in worry. 'Why are you crying, Aunt Grace?' she asked.

'Nothing sweetie.' she said. 'I miss your mom so much.' her voice broke when she said her next words. 'Your Mommy is in a fairytale, you know. She is doing important things for all of us.'

Annie smiled brightly. 'Oooooohhh...she is?' she asked eagerly.

Grace teared up again. 'Oh yes, she is.' she choked. 'She is a brave princess, you see. She will save all of us. Her fairytale will be the best one you'll ever read.'

'Oh, it _will._ ' she agreed, laughing. 'My mommy is the best princess of all!' she shrieked. 'But who is the bad man in her story?'

This time Grace really choked up. She couldn't let her know that her mommy had to fight a bad man more monstrous than any other villain she ever read about. It would simply crush her.

'A very bad man.' she said, grieving inside. 'But only your mommy can finish him.' she said.

'Yay!' she laughed.

It ate Grace's heart that she was making the angel happy under false stories. But what could be done? She had fallen into an impasse. And the situation was such that she had no choice but to lie through her teeth.

'Momma says that if someone is crying, always give him a kiss on his cheek.' she smiled. She reached up and gave Grace a butterfly kiss on her cheek. Her heart melted and, for a second, all the grief went away.

'Better?' she asked.

'Better.' she replied sadly.

She smiled, showing all her perfect white teeth. She then glanced at Jane and quietly said, 'Is Daddy sleeping?'

Her grief came back again. What will she say to the little girl? That her Daddy wasn't in one whole piece? That she lost her father too? And so again, she lied through a bleeding heart.

'Yes.' she said. 'Daddy is sleeping.'

'Then let's go!' she hissed. 'Momma says that Daddy works hard and that we should let him sleep!'

'Okay.' she smiled a little. 'Let's get cookies.'

'Yes!' she said enthusiastically.

And so with Wayne's arm on her waist and her hand in Annie's, she hoped of getting Lisbon back with her king and princess and friends, defeating the villain and closing the fairytale with a chapter marking their Happily Forever After.

 **Sorry that took long to post new chapter. Had my exams.**

 **Tell me what it's like.**

 **More chaps coming!**


	5. Guilty longing

After Grace dropped Angelina at her house, she went with Rigsby to the FBI. Thinking that Ben and Maddy would take care of things for a while, she slumped onto Wayne's shoulder as they waked through the narrow lane leading to the City Hall.

'How you holding up?' Wayne asked.

Grace shuddered as he asked this. For even she didn't know what her reply was. 'I don't know, Wayne.' she said. 'I don't know.'

Just as he was going to say something, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He gave an apologetic glance at Grace and took it out of his pocket. Cho called. And he never does until it's bad news.

Wayne could see how tired Grace looked. He thought he should take her out for dinner, but doubted if that would solve the problem.

He felt miserable. There was nothing he could do to save his boss. He missed her smile and the way she smacked his arm if he said something funny. He missed the way she laughed. Red John took her away. And he knew the deal with Red John. What if she was...?

 _No!_ He violently thought. Lisbon was alive. She _had_ to be. And he would do anything to try to get her back. If not for everyone, for Jane and Annie.

It tore him when he remembered how Annie was happy. She was flying at the thought of her mom being a princess. How Grace was crying inside for lying to her. But how on earth can the truth are known to her? She would be devastated at the thought of losing her mom. And her dad.

He doubted Jane was okay. He seemed to be so...empty. That's the word. He doubted he could recover from this blow anytime soon. He took a mental note to arrange a psychiatrist for Jane. He was the only one who could bring her back. For this cat-and-mouse game has commenced again.

He answered the phone and held it to his ear, his arm around Grace's shoulder. 'Hey, Cho.' he said.

'Found a clue.' came the reply. His voice was staggering a bit. Wayne never thought a rock hearted man like Kimball Cho could ever be moved by something. 'You have to come, quick. Bring Grace.' said Cho.

'On my way.' he said, and snapped the phone shut. 'Grace, we need to go.' he told her. 'Cho's found something.'

'What?' she asked anxiously.

'He didn't say. But it's important.' he replied.

'Fine, let's go.' she huffed, and hurriedly ran to the City Hall to hail a cab, with Wayne at her tail.

Lisbon woke up entwined in ropes, sitting in a chair, and listening to people screaming.

She tried to squirm out of the ropes but they gripped her like vines. And the worst part was her being completely undressed,

 _Oh, Lord._ She thought, frantically. _Who did this this to me?_ Now she tried to sink _into_ the ropes, hoping to cover herself. But failing, she tried to hunch her shoulders and comprehend her surroundings.

The room was pitch-black, with nowhere to look. She felt a chill run down her spine. The room was freezing cold. The floor under her bare feet, she sensed, was wooden. And the cold wall touching her bare back was granite. The chair she was sitting on was metal, she guessed.

But that didn't matter. For right now, she was trying to get out of this torturous room which might even be hell.

But just then, she shuddered violently. For a door she never saw opened at the corner of the room, the white light revealing the details of the small room. A small light bulb flicked over her head, and she finally saw the person who opened the door.

It was Marcus Pike.

Lisbon was sure she was dreaming. She was absolutely sure. It couldn't be Marcus, it _couldn't_. Maybe she saw someone else. Maybe it was a trick of the light. Maybe she couldn't see clearly because of the dim light.

But it was him. _Him._

She was so surprised; it took her a while to feel guilty. This is the man she left broken and alone in D.C. She completely forgot about what he'd feel, blindly hoping that another woman will walk into his life and wash away Lisbon's betrayal.

And yet here he was, acting like he never left.

She'd never been so wrong.

 _Then_ came the embarrassment. She hadn't realized that her ex-fiancé was currently seeing her naked. And now that she did, she tried to hide herself with her hair and the rope, failing again in the attempt.

She stared right into Marcus's eyes, trying to read his mind

Cho was running like a maniac, trying to look for more clues. At last when he hit a clue, his mind tried to recover from the shock he got.

Once upon a time, he told Jane that he was going to be in serious trouble if he ever hurt Lisbon or failed to protect her. And he promised him that he won't.

Cho realized that he failed in _his_ promise of protecting her.

He felt crushed. And felt that he failed in his duty. Cho never ever got that feeling, failure of doing something. He found no one to blame it on, and he desperately wanted someone, for he didn't want to carry guilt on his shoulders.

And the girl. What would happen to _her?_ She won't be able to live without Lisbon. And neither could Jane.

But he realized that he needed to work, not think. If he truly wanted his boss back, he was going to have to toil day and night.

He went to Wylie's desk, dragged a chair from the corner, sat on it and looked him in the eye. 'You said you got something. What is it? And cut to the chase.' he asked.

'Bad.' Wylie replied with a grave expression and tone. 'Something very bad.' He eyed Cho with exhausted eyes.


	6. Morgan Tyler, The red realization

'Damn it, Wylie!' Cho growled. 'I thought I told you to cut to the chase!'

'Okay, okay!' Wylie exclaimed, and turned his head back to the computer, muttering complaints under his breath. Cho didn't care for any of that. He just wanted the information Wylie had.

But then, Wylie stopped doing whatever he was on his computer. 'I...think we should wait for the others.' he said. 'It wouldn't be fair sharing the information with you without them knowing.'

Cho nodded understandably. He was right. Everyone should get their heads up on this one. So he went around the office, telling everyone to meet him in the conference room in 15 minutes. Each time he got a 'How's Jane?' from the agents, and his reply would be a pained look and an 'I don't know.' He wanted to tell them Jane was fine, though the idea was undoubtedly absurd, but he was Kimball Cho, a man of his word and honesty. He wouldn't go lying around to people like that, especially about such a serious thing.

Fifteen minutes later, the conference room was a sea of worried heads and agitated bodies. As soon as Cho entered the body, everyone became silent. As if seeing a shark and trying their best not to draw attention towards it. The only sounds were Cho's footsteps as he walked to the white screen.

'Good afternoon, agents.' he said in a very businesslike tone. 'We are gathered her for discussing an important breakthrough in the-' he choked on _his_ name, but then he quickly regained himself. 'The Red John case.' he finally said.

Immediately, uproar went through the entire room. Everyone was shouting, some even crying out in despair. Their horrible hunt, their worst nightmare, was being revisited and relived again. The agents were shouting questions at Cho, not letting him think. At last he went beyond his line, and exploded in fury and impatience.

'Stop!' he shouted. So loud, that it beat the clamoring of the crowd and regained everyone's hushed silence. They straightened their shoulders in attention and folded their arms across their chests, with severe expressions,

'I can't believe this!' he shouted again. 'I cannot believe this!'

All he got as a response were guilty expressions and faces.

'You are _agents_ , for the love of God!' he yelled. 'Handpicked from the best in all of the United States! If you're just going to act like sniffling six-year olds, then maybe you should just quit your jobs. Cause I think I got more responsible people willing to take your places!'

Everyone stood still as a statue, not daring to move or even breathe.

'What is wrong with you?' he yelled again. 'Don't you see what's happening? This battle is starting again!' He flinched. 'People's lives are at stake her, don't you dimwits get it? If you're going to go wild over here, how on earth are you going to do your duty? To secure the world which is going to be as wild as it can ever be upon hearing the news?'

He exhaled once, and when he spoke again his voice softened. 'I know how you feel. I feel the same way too, maybe even worse, but we have got to pull ourselves together. If not, who's going to pull the _world_ together? It's the only thing we got left. Strength-and unity. Something which Red John or any other monster will never ever have.'

Slowly people nodded their heads, knowing that he was right. That all this-this, _protest,_ wouldn't help. They knew they had to stand up, they were senior agents! Cho was unmistakably right.

'Very well, then.' said Cho. 'I think that we've seen reason. And it will remain that way, is that understood?'

All the heads in the room bobbed up and down.

'Wylie, tell us what you've found.' he motioned towards him.

He came forward, a bit uncertainly, with his laptop and projector in hand. 'You don't mind giving me a hand, would you?'

'All right.' Cho replied, and took Wylie's projector from his hands. He set it down on the wooden table while Wylie turned on the laptop. He connected the device to the screen, getting it ready for projecting. 'Keep it short.' said Cho, and Wylie nodded in response. He stood up from his chair and faced the gathering.

'Okay. So this is Thomas McAllister at the time of his death.' he said, showing a picture of McAllister on his back with his arms and legs spread out. There was a bullet hole in his leg and a chafe mark on his collarbone. 'It was taken right before Patrick Jane fled to the islands.' he continued. 'So this body has been taken to the morgue, and there was an unexpected court order for his body to be remained untouched for a period of ten years. I just checked with the morgue in private, getting a warrant to see the corpse. Human eyes didn't lie on the corpse for more than seven years. But here's the thing, there was no corpse.'

Everyone stifled gasps and moans, looking at Wylie with perplexed expressions. Even Cho was included in the surprise.

'The chief was just as shocked as I was. He told me that no one got to a ten feet radius of the room his body was in. That nobody could question his advanced security. Nobody went into that room for seven years, and yet, the body disappeared.'

'But then he told me about this guy, Morgan Tyler, who was assigned to keep watch over the room at night. So I got his address and went there with Vega and Abbott. The place looked like it was vacant for many years. There were cobwebs _everywhere_ , and there were no signs that he even had a family. But then...' His voice faltered and he scowled, as if remembering an unpleasant memory.

'We found his body in his room. He was murdered, by none other than Red John himself.'

More gasping and choking from the audience.

'He recorded a message and wrote a suicide letter. He recorded a verse of William Blake's _Tiger,_ saying it in harmony with...someone else. But the letter was the worst part.' He inhaled deeply, and took out a printed paper from his pocket, neatly folded. He began to read the letter out loud. "Dear reader," he quoted. "If you found out this letter, then I assume you know the truth. But do not blame him for murdering me, for it was my own choice, a little sacrifice needed to make in order to succeed. Do know that the two years I spent with him were the very best of my life, and I die cherishing the pain which consumes me as he cuts me. May the best man win in this restarting war."

A sudden chill went through the entire room. Cherishing-he was cherishing the moment when Red John was torturing him. Instead of feeling pity for the man, they all felt hate burning inside their bodies.

Finally Cho spoke. 'So he helped him escape.'

'Yup.' replied Wylie. 'Not only that, but when I asked the chief why he didn't try to find out why Tyler was missing work, he told me that some guy left his death certificate at the front desk to be sent on to him. They even carried out his funeral. I asked him who the guy was, and he told me that he called him and the guy told him that he was a lawyer. End of discussion. Said his reason of death was even stranger-food poisoning. Tyler was infected with this germ when he was born. It caused his body not to accept and nutrients from food. Which was why he lived on supplements. How was it possible for a guy like that to get poisoned by food, which he ate but never affected him?'

'Oh Lord.' someone said from the back. 'The 'lawyer' was Red John or one of his followers, wasn't it?'

'Yeah, it was.' Wylie replied. 'But why would Red John try to come back in the first place? I know he had a passion for murder, but that's cause he wanted fame. His pride is tarnished now. Why'd he come back?'

While everyone was pondering over the answer, Cho already knew.

'Of course.' he moaned.

'You know why?' Vega asked.

'Red John's biggest weakness was the thirst for revenge, like his nemesis, Jane.' he began. 'He would do anything for fame, to feel proud.'

'But all of sudden, if some guy comes out to hunt for him, lessens his pride and fame, tries to kill him, finally ruining it, do you really think he would let that go so easily?' he whispered.

Everyone gasped. 'That's why he took Lisbon...' said Vega in astonishment.

'Yes, that's exactly why.' Wylie approved. 'To make him suffer and feel loss, pain and anger.'

'What if he comes after Jane next? Or worse, Annie?' Grace said, panic-stricken.

Everyone gasped at the sickening thought.

'Cho?' Rigsby asked uncomfortably. 'It's Red John we're talking about. You don't think Lisbon is...' he gulped in horror.

Cho shook his head hard, trying to shake the thought away. 'No.' he said insistently. 'He would want to keep her alive, for punishing Jane. And we _have_ to carry the faith that she's alive, or all this work is worthless.'

'Speaking of Jane,' Vega spoke up. 'How is he?' she asked hesitantly.

Cho groaned. 'It's kind of dumb,' he started, 'that you're asking me when you already know.'

She flinched in response.

Cho looked alarmed, ignoring murmurs around him. 'Oh, Vega, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! I was angry and wasn't thinking straight...'

'No. It's cool.' she said.

'Rigsby spoke up. 'I'm going to make a call for security 24/7 over Patrick Jane and Angelina Lisbon Jane. Excuse me.'

'I'll come with you.' Grace spoke up. He nodded in reply.

And so, they left, leaving the others with an air of tension, astonishment and shock.


	7. The confession

Lisbon gazed across the room into the eyes of the man she betrayed.

His body shook with a tremor at the mere sight of her. But behind the joy, Lisbon also saw the anger burning. She flinched at the way situations turned out. Where some...hours or days, she didn't know...time ago she had been lying next to her warm husband and looking sweetly at her baby, now she was being watched naked by a wounded man she hurt several years ago. She was locked in a dark room with her limbs tied to a chair. She saw no way of escaping.

Pike's eyes bored into her, and again she saw the pain she had caused him. His eyes were red from crying, his tousled hair looked like it had been run through many times. He looked exhausted and also feeble. For a few minutes, their eyes locked into place. He opened his mouth to speak a number of times but thinking better of it, closed it again. That was the same situation Lisbon was going through.

The silence was driving them both insane. Despite the circumstances and their conditions. Finally, Pike broke the silence first.

'Teresa.' He breathed. 'You look...different.'

Lisbon shuddered at the sound of his voice. When Pike saw her flinch, his eyebrows creased in frustration. He took a few steps towards her, despite her wordless protests. When he was going to touch her cheek, Lisbon lost her head. 'Don't,' she whispered, her voice steely calm, 'touch me, Marcus. Don't touch me.'

He lowered his raised hand and stepped back. He took a minute to admire her, while Lisbon was frantically trying to hide herself. After his eyes returned to hers, Lisbon saw that they were full of tears and misery.

'Teresa,' he whispered, 'what happened to you?'

She looked at him, her eyes itching, predicting tears to come. 'Nothing happened to me, Marcus.' she breathed. 'My life changed, my career changed, my family changed; but I didn't, Marcus. I didn't.'

His knees quivered, and he slumped to the ground. 'Then why'd you hurt me, Teresa?' he asked, voice broken. 'Why'd you leave me?'

Her voice shook. 'Marcus, I...' she couldn't complete her sentence, drowned in guilt.

He put his face in his hands and sobbed broken hearted sobs which ate into Lisbon's pained heart. She wanted to touch him, to tell him everything was okay, but that was an absurd idea. She couldn't reassure someone she hurt. Someone who once loved her. Besides, she was tangled in ropes for one matter. So that idea was out.

Still, it hurt him when she saw him in pain. She was the reason of his current state. And she hated feeling that she was responsible for his pain. It made her heart explode into shards of guilt.

When he finally raised his head, his eyes were even redder. His face was flushed with anger. His nostrils were no longer smooth, but instead turned into ferocious snarls.

'What did I ever do to you?' he shouted. She flinched as his voice exploded in her ears. 'I gave you everything you ever wanted! I worked hard to build a happy future for the both of us. I toiled day and night! I tried to make you happy! I never let you off my side! I asked you to forever be with me and...' his voice faltered, breaking in pain.

When he spoke again, his eyes let out tears of despair. 'I loved you, Teresa.' he broke. 'I loved you so much. Ever since you left me, I waited for you. I waited for you to come back for me. I hoped you would realize that I could give you more than _he_ ever could.'

'You never came, Teresa. You abandoned me, left me alone to fend off for myself. You broke your promise of staying with me, never leaving my side. You broke your promise of keeping me happy. You broke your promise of forever loving me.' He sobbed.

'You broke your promise of _trusting_ me.' he mumbled in tears. 'That's when I stopped hoping, Teresa. That's when I gave up the fight. If I don't know anything more, I do know that Teresa Lisbon is a woman of her word, a woman of God. She values promises.' he sniffled. 'Why did you leave me then, Teresa? Wasn't I ever enough for you? Give me a reason, please. It's better to know the painful truth than hoping for a soothing lie. I can't, Teresa, I just can't...' he sobbed.

Lisbon's mouth was frozen open in shock. All this time, Marcus was mourning, keeping everything inside him. Now that she knew the truth, she didn't know what to think. It was as if her whole world turned upside down. She hurt him beyond measure, beyond repair. She had to say something.

'Marcus, you made me happy.' she said softly. 'When I didn't see a chance with Patrick, I came to you, hoped that you'll heal my wounded heart. As soon as Patrick told me, I had no choice, Marcus. I could have stayed with you forever but when life offered to give me the man I truly loved, I had no options. Do you understand me, Marcus? I had no options.'

'I'll heal you...You had no choice...No options...' he repeated. He smiled a little. 'You never loved me, did you, Teresa?' he whispered. 'You just used me like a pawn, playing me into false confessions and promises as I truly loved _you_. You used me like a substitute to love. You fled to me, escaped from a broken heart. You never told me how you really felt.'

Those were harsh words, but true ones. 'Yes, Marcus.' she said softly. 'I fled to you, hoping you'll save me. When the time came, I broke every single one of the promises I ever made to you. Everything I said was under a false pretense. I'm sorry for that Marcus. I really am. I honestly prayed you would find another woman and move on...but this situation is as such. I'm sorry for everything Marcus .I really am sorry.'

Marcus gave her a wicked grin and laughed harshly. Lisbon was surprised by his caprice. She sensed that horror was on its way.

'Move on?' he growled. ' _Move on?'_ If you had any idea what I had been through, you wouldn't say this. Oh wait; actually you do know what it's like. Imagine living without your precious little family.' He gave Lisbon an evil grin when she flinched. 'Yes.' he growled. 'That's exactly what it was like for me. If you expect me to forgive you for everything that you've ever done to me, then hell, woman, you're wrong.'

Her eyes widened in shock. 'But I thought you said you loved me...cared about me.'

Pike gave a screaming laugh. 'Love?' he yelled. 'Love? That was before you told me how you _felt_.' he sneered. 'Just see what I'm capable of; how I make you miserable. I will make your precious husband suffer beyond measure. I will break your daughter beyond repair; and you will only be watching the whole show. Watch what I can do, Teresa Lisbon Jane, watch. See what else I'm capable of, if not keeping people I love with me forever.'

With that, he jogged across the room, turned off the light and locked the door, leaving Lisbon naked with her mouth frozen open in silence and shock, in a huge, dark and cold room.


	8. Shell shocked

Four days later.

Everyone was running here and there. Not one was bothering to take a break. The investigating rooms were always full. The evidence storage room was always overcrowded, with hopeless clues from here and there. The FBI headquarters rarely closed their gates, with agents coming to work day and night. No one went out or had fun. Their only purpose then was finding the monster that haunted their lives.

Grace was pacing here and there in the main corridor, arguing with someone on the phone. As the others came, they were worried about Grace's phone call. The conversation looked pretty heated.

As soon as she was off the phone, she slumped onto a nearby sofa and rubbed her temples. Rigsby, Cho, Vega, Wylie and Abbott-together came to her, wanting to know what's wrong.

Grace looked up and saw them. 'Hey.' she said, standing up. Deep bags formed under her eyes from rough nights. Her skin was pale and tired looking. Wrinkles and bags lines every inch of her face, just like the other agents. This just proved how tired she was.

'What is it?' asked Vega, putting a hand on her shoulder.

'The hospital called.' she replied tiredly.

'Jane's still not up yet, is he?' Cho muttered.

For past few days, Jane hasn't been responding to anything. The doctor told them that the overwhelming shock he got was a hard blow to his mind. He hasn't been eating, or sleeping, or drinking. He hasn't been urinating properly, and his heart stayed at a very slow pace. His temperature never went below 105 degrees, suggesting he was breathing, but barely alive. He just stared straight ahead, staying still as a statue. When someone tried to talk to him, the response would be burning silence. He didn't react to anything; pain, touch, medication, anything.

They were in a dilemma. How on earth were they going to find Lisbon if Jane didn't help them?

Vega slumped onto the sofa, sobbing in her hands. Vega was the more affected than the other five. She was very close to Lisbon. Grace sat down beside her and rubbed her back. 'It's okay.' she muttered.

'I miss her so much.' she whispered.

'We know.' said Wylie.

'How on earth can we find her if Jane is...?' murmured Rigsby.

'We just got to do without him.' said Abbott. When he got a lot of stares, he said 'I know it sounds impossible; but what can we do? Wait for him to get better when he's not coming around anytime soon? Wait until Lisbon's...?'

They all flinched at the unbearable thought. Abbott was right, they just can't-can't _give up._ They needed to put every effort to the wheel if they wanted to find her.

'No, you're right.' said Wayne. 'We can't just wait for Jane. We can't just quit and do nothing; we have to do _something._ '

'Let's get to work.' said Cho.

But just as they were about to leave, Agent James rushed into the doorway. He looked absolutely panic-stricken. His forehead was beaded with sweat. He was gasping for air-evidence that he came running.

'James, what is it?' asked Grace.

'You have to see this.' he croaked. 'You have to see this.'

The next second, they all followed him hurriedly to the storage room. After they went there, they were taken aback. The room was full of people, muttering anxiously amongst themselves. As soon as they saw the six agents, they created an aisle for them to pass through. As they passed, they saw a crinkled piece of paper on the coffee table.

It was a letter written in red ink.

Astonished, they rushed to the paper. Grace took the paper carefully, not wanting to tear it. She held it delicately in her hands and read it out loud:

Hello, dear friends.

I hope you all are going extraordinary. If you are giving up on finding Teresa, then I think not. You see, I am keeping Teresa alive to punish Patrick, but it is useless if he won't feel pain. I give you three days' time to cure him. If not, I'm afraid you'll be losing your precious Lisbon.

Please send my regards to Patrick.

Roy Taliaferro

The paper trembled in Grace's hands. The room echoed with silence. For a moment everyone stopped breathing. An icy chill filled the entire room. Then everyone made silent moans of joy.

Lisbon was alive. Cho was right. She was taken because Red John wanted to punish Jane. Jane wouldn't be hurt if he suffered. He would be torn watching others suffer.

They didn't want each other to know, but in each individual, a spark of hope blazed in heart. They still had hope that everything will go fine; that Lisbon would be back and Jane would be fine; even though their chances were so thin and their hope so unsure.

But first Jane had to join the hunt. Not just because of Red John; because without his support, their every attempt will always remain a failure.

Grace stared out the car windshield with tired eyes and a sunken face.

She hoped that the method she was going to use will work, it has to. If it doesn't, then everything will be over. There will be nothing to hope for. This was the only thing she could think of.

Vega put her hand on her shoulder. 'Do you think it'll work?'

Goosebumps covered her arms. 'I am not sure about anything right now, Vega, can you understand that? I don't know.' she said. 'I don't know what to do, Michelle, I just don't know.'

She nodded quietly in response.

'Well, praying it'll work is all we can do at the moment.' said Abbott from her other side. 'We got to give it a shot; or else it's hopeless. Besides, I like the idea. I think it'll work.'

'I really hope that's true.' said Grace numbly.

They all stared at the sun setting in the western horizon, rosy and gold in color. If everyone was here, they would have gone to the fields for sky watching through the dusk and night. The sun's glow promised them of hope, and the North Star told them that there was something to wish for, something to live for. Grace promised herself she would have an overnight sky watching for everyone, as soon as she got the team together again. They drove towards faith, the car bathed in the cozy warmth of the setting sun. They didn't look back. They were sure about every promise the sky made. They were sure about the fact that they were going to put every effort into play from then on.

They were sure.


	9. Soothing Death

Four days.

It's been exactly four days since Lisbon had her encounter with Marcus Pike. Four days she'd been without any food or water. Four days without sleep. Four days without clothes.

Lisbon knew this because just after a few minutes Marcus left, two burly men came into the dark room with hooded faces. They turned on the dim light over her head. They placed a calendar and a clock by her sides. Then they left without saying anything.

Today was the 25th of June. She wondered how long she would survive this way. A day? A week? She doubted she would survive long enough. Death seemed to be coming after her every moment, and she evaded it. She doubted she could resist anymore. There is no point fighting in this place. She'd rather be happy elsewhere; even if it's among the dead.

As soon as she was sure that she would die, she began to ponder over things. She was plainly grieved by the fact that she would leave the people she loved behind. Nothing could be done. Now she tried to remember her loved once, as a memory before her time is up.

Tears filled her eyes as she thought of Jane and Annie; and she couldn't imagine leaving them. The idea was so painful; her mind seemed to snap on itself at the mental image. Tears ran down her face, knowing that she kept a promise she could never fulfill.

Once, she promised Jane that he was never going to lose her. Once, she promised her baby that wherever her mommy is, she will always come running back to her Annie.

Why did she make promises she could never keep?

She thought about the time Jane told her that she didn't know if he was going to lose her. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

Grief made her heart bleed, releasing the pain she always kept hidden. Despair flowed through her veins and self-pity coursed through her mind. She couldn't stay with them. She failed in her promise. She betrayed her Jane and her baby. She desperately wanted to say sorry, to say goodbye, to see them just once more; but nothing could be done. Everything is over.

Her mind filled with happiness at one thought, though. She kept her promise of protecting them, as long as she was alive. She was overjoyed that Jane and Annie were not with her, for the first time in her life. They will be safe. They'll never be in danger of Pike's revenge. Pike wanted Jane to suffer. So he took her; but Pike's battle was with Lisbon. Her family will always remain safe. If she were going to die tonight, she would take the relief she felt with her when she left. She put herself at stake for protecting her family, and it didn't bother her one little bit.

She looked at the calendar, marking the days she would live in her head. The sooner she left the better. Pike won't be able to use her as leverage for getting Jane. She won't deal with the grief so much.

It didn't bother her that she would die in agony, in hunger, thirst and pain. If her grief could kill her faster, she would be glad. She wanted to protect her family, right? This was what she wanted! She felt no pain, no pain at all. Her body became numb, and she let go of all the pain she felt. Suddenly, energy coursed through her veins, from happiness and grief. Her heart swelled with love and worship. She loved them so much, enough to sacrifice herself for them. She smile through tears, feeling more relieved than ever. It felt strange, how before she didn't believe in love, her heart having been broken, and now it felt like she was born out of it? It tore her to know that she was leaving love, finding it so abruptly and her life. Love was an opportunity that her life gave her only once, and now it was being snatched away from her.

She didn't care about the bruise marks on her skin. She didn't care about the scorching pain in her stomach. She didn't care about the burning agony in her throat, robbing her of speech. She only cared about the fact that if she left, she will leave her family safe.

 _Jane._ He already lost a family once. If she left, what would he do? He was a selfish beast and wouldn't take account of her feelings. He won't kill himself, not until he got revenge. He will start his hunt again, tearing everything in his path. She hoped he would acknowledge the fact that she wouldn't approve. He promised that he would hold up for their daughter. Jane would never break a promise he made to her.

 _Annie._ Her breath caught on her name, releasing fresh tears. She was supposed to start school in a month. Lisbon promised that she would take her to school every day. It broke her heart when she remembered the smile on her face. How could she break a promise she made to Annie? Even if Jane will understand, Annie won't. What will happen to her? She remembered the vision she once had, growing old with her daughter and husband. Living in a quiet place, somewhere in the suburbs, just the three of them. If another addition doesn't come to the family, that is. Her dream shattered into pieces, blackening her life. Her Annie won't hold up; but Lisbon hoped she would. She had to. She won't upset her mommy. She had faith that she would know.

She missed Annie's birthday; and she was beating herself for it. She made plans with the team. She imagined the joy she would she on her daughter's face. She kept it a secret from Jane, checking if he'll remember. She imagined the fun they could have had. She dreamed for a life she'll never have. She regretted wishing, but she couldn't take it back. It'll only increase the pain.

She felt her eyes drooping; pulling her into sleep. She fought to stay awake, but nothing could hold her up. She saw stars, telling her that everything will be alright. She believed them.

Her last thought was of how she felt it was unfair, that she earned love with so much work and now had to give it away now; but she never regretted the results to come of the sacrifice. She believed in love, and that gave her strength.

She drifted away to unconsciousness.


	10. Skies black and icy

They walked through the hospital corridors in a hurried pace as soon as they got there. They already lost forty minutes handling the drug lords they found on the way. Forty minutes of seventy hours. They hated the fact that they wasted time. Nothing could be done now.

And so, they snaked through the infuriating maze to Jane's cabin. It didn't matter how much time they lost. They had to get Jane back. Lisbon didn't have a lot of time. They had to work together if they wanted to rescue her.

As soon as they reached his cabin, they stopped in their tracks. Doctor Aaron stepped out of the cabin, with a pained and tired face. The doctor had been working just as hard as they had. The evidence was clear on his face. It was pale and sunken, covered in sweat. The doctor was shaking hard, and he kept his shoulder hunched; as if he were feeling cold. Seeing him, they all panicked. Was there something wrong with Jane? Was it the doctor himself? They all rushed forward.

Vega put a hand on the doctor's shoulder. 'Is everything okay?' she asked hesitantly.

The doctor jerked abruptly, startled by her sudden approach. He regained himself after a minute, and then smiled at Vega.

'No, everything is okay.' he clarified. 'But something weird did happen, after all. Not bad, but weird.'

They waited anxiously for what he was about to say. Abbott broke the silence first. 'What happened?' he asked.

'It's a little girl.' he answered. 'She's blonde, very beautiful. She claims to be Mr. Jane's daughter. Seeing the resemblance and her insistence, I let her in.' He exhaled sadly. 'I'm assuming you guys didn't notify her of her father's...condition.' He said. 'She...seems to be very upset.'

They sucked sharp breaths in horror. Annie was _here_? How? They wanted to hit the doctor for his carelessness, but remembered that he didn't know about Annie. If he said Annie was upset...

'Did anyone come with her?' Abbott growled through gritted teeth. It seems like he was having a hard time keeping his cool too.

'Yes, um, that was what I wanted to talk to you about.' he murmured. 'She came running through the corridors alone. I thought that was strange; no one would leave a child alone like this. I asked her if anyone dropped her here. She said something about an Uncle Roy?'

Their mouths hung frozen open in silence and astonishment.

The doctor's expression was uncertain. 'She told me that her Uncle Roy came to pick her up from her house. She said he was very nice, brought her cookies and balloons. She told me that this Roy told her that her father was sick. So she came here with Roy for seeing her dad. She said that her Uncle Roy had some work, so he gave her a kiss and went away, dropping her here. The front desk was astounded when we received her. She was so young, a little thing. My guess was that she was no more than 5 years old.'

'Here is the odd thing though.' he said, like the things he already said weren't enough. 'She brought the balloons with her. They looked so odd, I was actually afraid by looking at them.' he smiled a little. 'They were pure white in color, but the image was what bothered me. It was a face, a smiley face to be exact, smeared in red paint across the balloons. It didn't look normal. When I asked her about them she smiled in delight. She said that she and her Uncle Roy together painted those balloons with a magical paint he brought.' his eyebrows furrowed. 'I thought that was weird. When she asked me how they were, I told her they were very beautiful. I escorted her to her father, and asked her if I could have a balloon. She smiled and gave me one. I took the balloon and saw something strange. The paint was blackening gradually. Paint never darkened or changed in color.'

'I took it to the lab for some tests. Ten minutes later, I find out that it wasn't paint at all. It was-'

'Blood.' Vega whispered. Everyone stared at her. 'It was blood.'

The doctor nodded. 'Yes that's right.' he approved in wonder. 'How did you know that?'

'It's something we all know.' Grace whispered.

Red John came after Annie today. Their worst fear had come true.

They minds blackened, not letting them think. They all felt dizzy. It suddenly felt like the ground was tilting, the earth turning upside down. They lost their biggest battle; keeping Jane and Annie safe. How could have they let this happen? Red John could have been...

They shoved away the nauseous thought. Angelina Lisbon Jane _will_ be safe. Nothing will happen to her while they are alive. She will be safe. She and her father _will be safe._ Nothing will happen to them on their watch.

Then again, something might happen, just like it happened today.

Their heads spun at the horrible thought.

After they regained themselves, after they could finally see their surroundings, after the ground stopped shaking, Grace asked in a strained tone, 'Is Annie still here?'

She prayed for a yes. She was definitely going to faint otherwise.

'The girl?' he asked. 'Yes, she's here. That's her name? She told me it was Angelina.'

Grace breathed a huge sigh of relief. 'It's a nickname.' she answered to the doctor's question.

The doctor looked thoughtful for a moment. 'Of course.' he smiled sadly. 'How foolish of me. I-' he broke off mid-sentence.

The door to Jane's cabin swung open loudly, and Annie came out. Her eyes were red from crying, and she was still stifling sobs in her chest. Her eyes were furious and her hair was tangled all the way through, like it hadn't been brushed for quite a long time.

They all had their hearts sunk in guilt. It ate Vega's heart to see the child crying so bitterly. She looked beautiful when she was happy, not broken and damaged like this. Silent tears began to run down her face as realization struck her. Annie knew everything. She knew that they lied to her, betrayed her. Would she be able to forgive her? She doubted it.

She looked at Grace and saw that she felt the same way, maybe even worse. She knelt beside Annie-she was such a little thing!-and took her tiny hand in her palms.

'Annie.' she whispered, others watching. 'I'm sorry, baby, I'm so sorry.'

Annie just glared at her and said nothing. Then she did something which swept them off the ground; she shook off Vega's hands violently and sprinted towards the stairs.

They were so shocked; it took them a minute to react. Abbott ran after her. Grace glanced at Vega. 'Michelle, do it.' she whispered. 'I have to go after her.' Vega shook her head frantically. She couldn't do this! What if something went wrong?

'Vega, I told you everything.' she growled. 'Do it.' When she didn't say anything, Grace lost her cool. 'Damn it, Vega, do it!' she shouted.

She didn't have a choice. Annie could be in trouble and they had less than seventy hours to find Lisbon. _She_ had to bring Jane back. She nodded slowly.

Grace hugged her shoulders, looked at her with fierce determination and dashed after Abbott and the girl.


	11. Kiss of Life

Vega stood frozen in the doorway while the other two chased the toddler around the hospital.

Her mind blanked with hesitation and insecurity. She didn't know how to do it right! Why couldn't Grace understand? She won't be able to this! She didn't know Jane that well! How on earth was she going to do this?

She couldn't back out now-even if she wanted to. Jane and Annie were depending on the team. She had to fight for them, for Lisbon; even if they were not her own blood. They were so much more than that. They were her family; people who cared about her.

She took a deep breath, her hand on the door handle. No, she wasn't sure at all how to do this; not even a tiny bit.

But, also, she had to battle against herself. She had to fight. She couldn't give up; not on her family. She exhaled heavily and slowly, letting it calm her, letting it all go. She turned the knob and opened the door.

As soon as she saw him, her heart broke.

He was the same way she left him the last time she came here-still keeping his eyes at the ceiling, slowly breathing, unmoving; like a statue. His face was paler than before, it was sunken and hollow. He became thinner and lost a lot of weight-more than 6 kilograms in four days. His blond hair was messy and tangled, whereas before, it used to be shiny and silky. His eyes, emerald and sapphire mixed together, were now black and empty, soulless pits. She forgot what his smile looked like, what his laugh sounded like.

Seeing him like this, determination blazed in her heart. She won't leave the man like this; she _will_ do whatever she can to save him, to relieve him of pain. She walked to the edge of his cot and sat by his knees. She scrutinized him carefully, checking if it was safe to proceed with all this insanity; it was.

She put her hands on either side of his face and forced his head down, within level of hers. She turned his head towards him, so he was facing her. The man was like a robot. She had to make him human again. She had to give him his life back. She looked into his eyes with tears streaming down her face.

'Jane,' she whispered her voice breaking- 'Lisbon is alive. She's still alive. She is waiting for you, Jane. She can't take it anymore.' her voice shook. 'She's missing you so much. She loves you so much. Jane, we have to save her. We need your help.' When she saw no response, she pushed him more. 'Don't you love her? Don't you want to be with her? Jane I know you're somewhere in there. I know you're listening. I know what you're feeling. We've all felt it Jane. We don't want to anymore.'

Desperation crept into her voice. 'Jane, come back.' she begged. 'Please come back. Your princess is waiting to be rescued by you. Jane you can't give up! You _won't_ give up. Jane, please, come back. Please, Jane.' An idea occurred to her. 'Angelina! What will happen to _her,_ Jane? She'll be broken and alone!' she cried. Her next words were a whisper. 'Please come back, please. You can't do this to Annie. What will we tell her? She's been asking all around for her mommy and daddy. You can't give up on her. She loves you. _You love her._ Please, Jane. Don't do this to us. Please come back.'

When he didn't respond, Vega lost her cool. Her whispers turned to shouts. 'Why are you doing this?' she yelled. 'Why do you have to be so goddamned selfish all the time? Why don't you ever think about others? Your wife...she's wasting away somewhere unknown and you don't seem to give a damn! Your daughter...your baby...she's crying, Jane. I've never seen her cry before. It's not a pretty sight.' His eyes still looked hollow.

Vega was crying now. She was sobbing, unable to control herself. 'Please Jane.' she sobbed. 'You can't give up on us like this. You can't hurt Annie and Lisbon. They're hoping you'll save them, Jane. They're hoping you'll come.' she whispered. 'Red John's back. He's back, and he won't stop at anything to destroy your family. Only you can help us Jane. If you don't hold yourself...who'll hold _us_?' Her voice shook. 'Please, Jane. Come back...please...come back...'

She knelt to the ground beside his cot, sobbing into her hands. _I've failed._ She thought in tears. _I'm so sorry, Lisbon._ She cried. _I'm so sorry._

And so, she cried. She cried knowing that she failed. She cried knowing that she couldn't help it. She broke down because she knows that she couldn't help Annie or Lisbon. She sobbed because she felt useless. She sobbed because she still had hope he'll come around.

She swam in an ocean of misery, feeling useless and stupid; knowing that she'd failed to protect her family. She sobbed harder than ever, keeping her face to the ground, her body shaking in agony.

Until she saw the tiny movement in the man lying beside her.

Vega's eyes widened so much they hurt. She slowly rose to her feet, her knees wobbling. Her arms shook, not welcoming the shock she received. Her head spun in awe and wonder, looking at the miracle fabricating in front of her.

Jane slowly lifted his head and blinked slowly. He stretched his limbs, his joints popping for not having been moved a very long time. He turned his head towards Vega with piercing sapphire eyes, trying to ask her a million wordless questions.


	12. Fear and hatred

Lisbon couldn't believe the horrible truth.

She thought that Pike abducted her in hopes of hurting her family. She thought he was going to kill her, for hurting Jane. She thought that he wanted nothing but to make her suffer; to make her writhe in agony. She thought Pike wanted vengeance, as she betrayed him.

She wondered how wrong a person could ever be.

Physically, she was a lot better. Strength coursed through her veins, giving her the ability to stay awake now. She didn't pass out quite so much, but her body still felt raw and aching. The clothing privileges were still not available, but they started feeding her. It was a small meal-soup, vegetables, water and meat-given twice a day, but Lisbon treated the food as if it fell from Heaven. She devoured it savagely every time it was given, her stomach growling audibly in reminder of her hunger. The two men would come and untie her right hand, put the platter on her lap and would watch with unbroken attention as she finished. They would then take the platter away, leaving Lisbon with a content stomach.

Given the current situation, she didn't care about the food anymore.

An hour ago, she turned back to see the clock behind her. That was the first time she noticed that something red was just barely visible beside the clock. It resembled paint. Curious, she turned her body as much as she could to see it better.

What she saw gave her the greatest blow she'd ever received in her life.

At first she thought it was a nightmare; maybe she was still sleeping, but reality was being unkind to her. She wanted to _believe_ that it was a nightmare, but she couldn't, because it all seemed far _too_ real. It almost felt like her mind was screaming at the spectacle, telling Lisbon that what she saw was unreal and impossible. She wanted desperately to believe it, but she just _couldn't._

Covering the faded brown walls were countless smiley faces, inked in what could only be blood, judging by the foul metallic odor coming off of them.

Everything around her and inside of her screamed one name and one name only: Red John.

She almost wanted to laugh at herself. It couldn't be him. It's impossible. The memory blasted through her mind; Thomas McAllister's corpse being taken out of the ambulance. Jane himself killed him, and Red John had no chance of escaping the man who was drunk in vengeance. It wasn't him at all. It was probably another forgery and she was wasting her energy feeling stupefied.

A tiny, rational part of her brain yelled questions at her about how that was possible. She could almost hear the screams of each body killed to get the treacherous ink used to draw the faces. She could hear _his_ laughter as his victims begged him for mercy. She could hear his knife being sheathed and could envision it travelling all throughout his victims' bodies.

The tiny part of her brain won the argument.

Furious tears streamed down her face. What had she ever done to get this life? After years of blood, sweat and tears being wasted on that monstrous creature, she finally thought everything was over. She had never imagined a life with Jane, knowing that as long as Red John lived, every moment of his day would be devoted to finding him. Everything changed after Red John was gone. She imagined a life with Jane, and she got it. She'd been hoping to hold on to him for as long as he could, hoping for a future with her family, dreaming for a magical life with everyone she loved.

Fate was cruel and unfair to her, though. It always had been, but these days it was going out of hand. She never expected her life to be easy, but she wanted peace for a change. She deserved it. If there was a contest on who suffered the most; she, Jane and the team would be winning the first prize.

As soon as her head became clear, she started to think. Lisbon regretted eating the food offered to her. If it came from Red John's sources, who knew what was in it? It was pretty clear why Red John didn't kill her. He wanted to lure Jane, using her as leverage. He wanted to get revenge, to pay Jane back for what he did. The idea sickened Lisbon, but so did a thought even more horrifying.

Her team, Jane, _Annie_ ; what if Red John hurt them and...?

She violently shook her head. That would not happen. God would protect them, she knew He would. She had to be rewarded for enduring all this suffering. She looked down at her cross hanging from her neck-she was glad it wasn't gone- and started praying with all her might.

Her Annie and her Jane would _not_ be harmed by a monster. She would see to that. They will be forever safe, even if Lisbon will not. They'll make it. They had to. Grace promised her that she would keep them safe; so did Cho, Wayne, Vega, Jason and Dennis. They won't break a promise to anyone. She knew that they would take care of her.

Hate burned like molten lava in her heart for Red John. That beast won't give up. His hunger was his thirst for murder. She thought about Charlotte and Angela, and cried for a daughter and sister she never had. She knew that if they hadn't...been his victims, Lisbon would never have met Jane. It was just so wrong, still. Red John was, is and always will be heartless, cruel and cold. Vicious like a wild animal, he will remain forever.

She felt unconsciousness pulling her away. She fought to stay awake, but her body complained in weariness. She needed to pray! How else would God know? But then she got comforted with the fact that He can see, hear and control everything. Lisbon lost herself in drowsiness. She saw stars again this time, but covered in black clouds like a shroud of darkness in night. They were the one in despair now, and Lisbon was the one assuring them this time, telling them that everything will be okay. Telling them that she will win this fight, even it gets in the way of her existence; and for once, she was sure that the stars were listening; that with her faith, strength and love-they were already comforted.


	13. Chasing Angels through Hell

Grace's heart lurched in her chest audibly, and that was proof of how hard she ran after Angelina.

They'd been chasing her for more than five minutes. Kid was a fast runner. Grace took the lead with Abbott at her heels. They snaked through the corridors, fast as bullets. Everything Grace saw around her was a blur. Her only target was the little girl.

She finally saw her running around a corner, her red dress and gold hair flying behind her. She ran at full speed, crashing a medicine cart on her way. Morphine and adrenaline containers crashed against her but she took no notice of them.

'Are you sure that's her?' yelled Abbott from behind her.

She looked back and met his eyes for barely a second. 'I'd know Annie from a mile away.'

Grace was now a few feet behind Annie, her tiny arm just within her reach. As soon as she got close, she grabbed her arm, pulled her close and shielded her body with hers as they fell down the stairs.

'Grace!' yelled Abbott, reaching his hand out.

Pain swallowed Grace whole. Her forehead and limbs cracked against the stairs, overwhelming her with pain. Her head spun. Pain was what she saw. Pain was what she felt in every fiber of her body. She just prayed that nothing hit Angelina.

The stairs came to an end and Grace hit flat ground. The hard linoleum injured her more, but its coolness comforted her bruises. As soon as she was sure she stopped moving, she released Angelina. She frantically searched her for injuries. There was a bruise on her elbow and one on her forehead, nothing serious. Grace on the other hand, looked awful. There was a reflective window right in front of her, and she couldn't recognize the woman staring back at her when she looked at it.

Cuts covered every inch of her arms. Blood flowed down her forehead and her lips. Her cheeks were horribly bruised. Her neck was swollen. She couldn't move a few fingers, the ligaments tore apart.

Angelina was fighting her, trying to escape Grace's grip on her. She kept on yelling 'Let me go! Let me go! Let me-' she turned to look at Grace with a fierce expression, which melted into horror as soon as she took her aunt's broken form in.

Abbott came running down the stairs. He sucked in a sharp breath as he looked at Grace. 'Oh my God, Van Pelt...' he whispered. 'You okay?' he asked.

Grace laughed throatily, and it hurt her swollen neck. 'Look at me, Dennis.' she mused. 'Do I _look_ okay?'

'Jane's right.' he said. 'Sometimes you really do get crazy.'

Grace raised her eyebrows, which hurt even more. 'He said that?'

'Yes, he did.' he replied smugly. He then looked at Angelina and scanned her tiny figure for wounds. 'Hi, sweetie.' he said softly. 'Are you okay?'

Angelina didn't reply. She was staring at Grace. She found Grace's chin uninjured, and put her fingers there. 'Aunt Grace.' she said, 'You're hurt.' Her eyes moistened. 'Who did this to you?'

'Nothing, baby, nothing happened.' she whispered.

Just then, a nurse came rushing through the corridor. 'Oh my goodness.' she gasped. 'You, ma'am, need serious medical attention right now.' She scanned Angelina once. 'Nothing severe, but she needs attention too.' She pulled in a wheelchair from around the corner and helped Grace to her feet. 'There, there...' she soothed. Grace yelped in pain. She calmed down after she settled into the chair.

She then took Angelina into her arms and called a matron to wheel Grace to the E.R.

'Hey, Abbott!' Grace called. 'I'm in a wheelchair, huh?'

Abbott grinned at her. 'Shut up, Van Pelt.' As he turned around, Grace called him again 'Aren't you coming with me?'

'Ma'am your injuries might deteriorate if you speak so loudly.' said the matron sternly. Grace looked at her once and slowly nodded.

'Paperwork.' he called back. And so, he turned his head towards the exit and walked away, turning his back on the stunned audience and the four females.

 **I CANNOT APOLOGIZE ENOUGH FOR BEING SO LATE. I AM SO SORRY. I WAS BUSY. BUT BE ASSURED THERE WILL BE MORE CHAPTERS.**


	14. The horror and joy

Jane's head spun in relief as he put on his vest.

Just a few days ago, Jane was in misery. He was dead even when he was alive. He thought he lost the love of his life. He thought his worst fear came true. He thought he lost his family again. He thought life snatched away his second chance when it was offered to him.

Later he found out that life wasn't so cruel after all.

He couldn't keep the tears off his eyes and the smile off his face. His Teresa, his Lisbon...he didn't know where she was, but he did know that she was alive. He _will_ find her, and when he does, he will completely _finish_ the monster who tried to snatch his beloved away from him.

As he stepped out of the curtains, Vega's smiling face greeted him. His jacket was on her arm. Jane smiled at her, internally wondering how such a little thing could make such a big difference. Wylie had better be proud of her, of having such a wonderful wife.

Vega did something which surprised Jane very much. She dropped his coat to the floor, ran to him and locked him in a tight hug. Jane almost got knocked off but then managed to regain himself. He patted Vega's back and smiled. When she let him go, her eyes were filled with tears.

'You bastard.' she laughed. 'Where the hell have you been?'

It felt great to hear her voice. 'You know,' he joked sadly. 'around.'

She chuckled hysterically, but then her face gave out a grave expression. 'We have to get to work now.' she said, fresh tears in her eyes. 'Lisbon...'

Horror hit him once again. Vega was right. Teresa was alive but Red John might be... His mind snapped on itself like a rubber band and chased the sickening thought away. Moisture began to escape his eyes too. 'We will find her, Vega.' he said fiercely. 'We _will_ find her.'

She nodded miserably. She just picked up his jacket from the floor when a thought occurred to her. 'Jane?'

'Yeah?'

She took a deep breath. 'Annie, she's...'

His face immediately became alarmed. He walked to Vega and put his hands around her shoulders and jerked her body. 'What!?' he shouted, panic tainting his voice. 'What happened to Annie!?'

Vega became equally alarmed. 'No, no! She's okay!' she said tightly. 'It's just that...she saw you in your coma and she snapped. Abbott and Van Pelt are with her.'

Jane let go of her shoulders and collapsed onto the bed, moaning 'Oh... _Oh..._ Thank goodness...Oh, thank _goodness_...'

He lifted his eyes to Vega and saw her groaning in pain and rubbing her shoulder. There were chafe marks on her arms, blooming like purple bruises.

Jane realized in horror what he had done and he couldn't breathe. 'Vega...' he whispered throatily and got out of the bed, reaching out to her. 'Oh Vega...I...I-I'm so _sorry,_ I...I wasn't thinking...I just...I'm so sorry, Vega, I...' He couldn't complete his thought, because just then she looked at him.

Her eyes were red from crying, her cheeks were wet with tears. She looked at him with a pleading expression. 'N-no, i-it's okay.' she said, her voice breaking. 'I-I understand. I kn-know what it's like. B-believe me. It's o-okay.' she sobbed heartbrokenly.

Jane's heart fell into pieces. He _never_ hurt a woman before. He never raised his hands on one, _never_. He looked at his hands. He wanted to tear off the skin in hopes of repenting for what he'd done.

Teresa, she would be ashamed of him, for what he'd done. That made him feel even more disgusted with himself. He couldn't forgive himself for his deed.

'No Vega...' he whispered painfully. 'I feel so...stupid, I...Vega, please forgive me, please...I hate myself...I don't know what I was thinking...Lisbon would hate me...I'm so sorry...I...I am so sorry.' He sobbed into his hands.

Vega walked to him and shoved his hands away from his face. 'Look at me.' she said fiercely. 'Look at me. I know what it's like, okay? Losing someone...worrying about losing someone, I _know_ what it's like. If you want forgiveness, then fine. I forgive you for being a concerned father and a loving husband.'

Jane looked up at her words, eyes wide.

'I know what's going on.' she continued. 'What you've done, anyone would do that in your place. You have to be strong, you're Patrick Jane for Christ's sakes. Do you want to find Lisbon?' When he didn't answer, she yelled more loudly. ' _Do you want to find her!?_ '

Jane nodded slowly.

'Then get yourself together.' she said. 'Be strong, or you'll end up regretting it for the rest of your life.' As she said this, she walked out the cabin, leaving a newly determined Jane alone inside it.


	15. Hiding and hoping

Vega entered the FBI parking lot with her shoulders hunched and her arms tightly crossed. She was looking at her feet as she walked, tears still streaming down her eyes. She felt anger flare inside her. She hoped that Jane understood what she said. She wasn't feeling angry from the physical pain Jane caused her, but from the mental misery he was putting her through. He didn't understand how strong he needed to be, and this infuriated her. Every word she said in the hospital was true, and she hoped Jane acknowledged it.

After she got to the first floor, she took the elevator to the third. Her knees were shaking and wobbling. Her breathing was uneven and she felt a little cold. Crying always took a toll on her. As soon as she got out of the elevator, she saw Wylie's desk in the corner, the computer still running. Wylie was probably up for coffee.

Vega sneaked into the restroom and fixed her crying state. Wylie would be suspicious if he saw her like that. She washed her eyes and face, let her hair loose from the band and combed it with her fingers. She then dried herself with a towel and took a caffeine pill container out of her pocket. She'd been losing sleep a month ago, and the doctor said that it was because of her working late. She would get insomnia if she continued, so he gave her pills to stay alert during shifts and sleeping soundly back home. She took a pill in her mouth and swallowed it. She checked the mirror once, and after making sure she looked okay, she stepped out of the bathroom.

Wylie was back at his desk, sipping coffee while staring intently at something in the computer. He looked up and a smile flickered across his face after he saw Vega. She couldn't believe love could be so powerful, that it could bind two human beings together, and that it could entangle their lives so that one can't live without the other. She felt beyond that, more than that, everything above that, for Wylie; just as he did for her. He stood up when she came to him and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He stared at her in joy, like she was his grace and savior. She could look at him all day and never get tired.

'Hey.' he said softly. 'How are you?'

'Not good, Jason.' she sighed. 'Anything but good.'

'You want to have lunch with me now?' he asked.

She raised her eyebrows. 'Lunch? Now?'

'Look I know what you're saying.' he backpedaled. 'Lisbon's gone and we're all searching for her, I know that. Please don't get me wrong, it's just...If we keep on working like this without clues, directions or sanity, we'll never find her. Besides, you haven't eaten anything in more than twenty eight hours, and we need to give our all in finding Lisbon.'

She thought about it for a while. 'You're right.' she said miserably. 'We need to do everything we can to find her, and me fainting from hunger in the middle of work will not help.'

Wylie smiled the tiniest of smiles. 'Let me just finish the background check on Aaron White.' he said, as he went to the computer.

Vega followed him as he went. 'The doctor?' she asked. 'Why?'

'It's protocol.' he said, looking at the screen. 'Plus, that guy seems creepy to me and **-** ' he stopped abruptly, gawking at the screen.

'What? What is it?' Vega asked anxiously. Whatever Wylie found, it was bad news.

When Wylie still didn't reply, she bent down her head to see what surprised him. As soon as she took in the information, her blood froze her to her bones. What she saw was impossible, and yet too real and demanding to be untrue.

'Oh my God...' she whispered. 'Jason...'

'I know.' he said through gritted teeth. 'Lunch plan's cancelled. We have to brief the team, right now.'

Vega quickly nodded her head and ran to her desk. She snatched her desk phone out of its compartment and quickly dialed a number.

'Hello?' Kim Fischer's voice greeted her from the other end.

'Kim? Kim, it's Vega.' she said frantically. 'Is Cho there? Give him the phone right now!'

'Vega? Cho's not here, he's out with the P.D. discussing the search for Lisbon. Why, what's wrong?' she replied.

'Damn it.' she cursed. An idea popped into her. 'Wait. You're Cho's second-in-command, right? We have to give a briefing. Get the briefing together right now!'

'Whoa, whoa. Slow down.' she replied. 'Yes, I am the second-in-charge and if you say so, I am going to get a briefing up. But will you please tell me what's going on?

'Later, Kim, I really don't have a lot of time.' she said quickly.

'Vega **-** ' Kim started, but she couldn't finish what she was saying. Vega already crashed phone into the compartment and ran to the bullpen to prepare for the briefing.

 **MORE CHAPTERS COMNG. BE ASSURED.**


	16. Friendly encounter

Cho walked through the corridors of the hospital. Abbott was right; this place really is like an infuriating maze. After searching for about five minutes, he finally found the reception desk.

 _What kind of hospital doesn't have a reception near the entrance?_ He thought; a little annoyed.

He approached the reception to a honey blond woman wearing a blue sweater. 'Excuse me?' he said. The nurse looked up at him in query. He took out his badge and showed it to her. 'FBI, ma'am. In which room are Agent Grace Rigsby and Angelina Jane being held?' he asked.

'Oh.' The nurse mused. 'One minute. Um...Angelina Jane and Grace Rigsby...' she muttered, tapping the computer keyboard. 'Yes. Um, they are in room 405 with Doctor Lily in charge.' she reported.

'Thank you.' he said and left for the elevator.

'It's the fourth floor on lift.' she called to him.

'Okay.' he called back.

He went to the elevators and clicked 4. As the elevator took off he checked the time. It was close to five p.m.; almost evening. When the elevator pinged, Cho got out of it to the fourth floor. He found a matron walking around with robes and towels and approached her.

'Ma'am?' he asked as the matron looked at him. 'FBI. Could you tell me where room 405 is?'

'Oh yes.' she said. 'Go straight; take a left and then a right. You'll find it in one of the two columns.'

'Thanks.' he said. The matron nodded and went on her way.

Cho took the directions as instructed and sure enough, he found a wooden door among many in one of the columns, marked with golden colored numbers 405. He opened the door quietly and went in.

It looked comfortable even for a hospital room. There were large wall-to-floor windows on the right side of two beds. Beside each bed there was a medicine cart and a small bed-table. On each table there was a lamp, a water bottle and a newspaper. Flower vases lined the windowsills. There was a flower shaped light bulb hanging from the ceiling. The walls were baby blue and the floors were peach linoleum tiles. The room wasn't big, but it was comfortable. There was an air conditioner on one side and a heater on the other. A fan hung from the middle of the ceiling as well.

 _Cozy,_ thought Cho.

Angelina was sleeping soundly in one of the beds. Van Pelt was on the other, but she was awake. She had her nose buried in a magazine and took no notice of Cho. He walked to her bedside and crossed his arms across his chest. 'Hey.' he said.

Grace abruptly looked up from her magazine. It hurt her, but she smiled a little. 'Hi.' she said. She tried to straighten up after keeping the magazine on the table; the only result she got was a painful moan.

'Hey, easy there.' said Cho, reaching out to steady her.

'No, no, it's okay.' she said. She regained her previous position; back straight on the bed. Cho grabbed a stool from the corner and sat down beside her.

He snorted jokingly. 'You look like crap.'

'Do I?' she asked playfully.

'Crappier than anything I've ever seen.' he confirmed. Grace chuckled in response. 'Rigsby's not going to take this easily, you know?'

Her eyebrows became creased. 'Don't tell him.' she pleaded. 'He's got enough to deal with about Lisbon.'

'I won't have to.' he said. 'He already knows.'

'What?' she demanded. 'How?'

'Rigsby called Abbott and asked about you. He told him.' he said simply.

She became red with anger. 'Why, that-'

'We act civil with our seniors all the time. That includes no cursing.' he joked. His tone became grave then. 'Rigsby should know.' he said. 'He has a right to.'

She sighed in response. 'You're right, I guess.' she said. 'Let's just wait and hope for the best.'

'Yeah.' he said.

'Any breaks in the case?' she inquired.

'No, not yet.' he said. 'But-'

Just then his phone buzzed in his jacket pocket and so he couldn't finish his sentence. 'Wait a second.' he instructed.

He brought it to his ear. 'Hello?'

'Cho, it's me.' urged Wylie's voice. 'Can you come to the FBI for a briefing right now?'

'No, I can't. Van Pelt and Annie are alone now. So I'm with them.' he replied.

'Darn it.' he cursed.

'You can use the webcam for communication with me.' he suggested.

'Okay, yeah, that's a good idea. I'll get on with it.'

'Wait Wylie, what's this about?' he asked urgently.

'Sorry, sir, I cannot tell you right now.' he replied and hung up, leaving Cho unanswered and with two patients.


	17. The bitter truth

Wylie rushed through the FBI bullpen to the conference room in the hall. Vega and Fischer arranged a briefing as promised. FBI agents were waiting in the room for Wylie. He'd tucked his silver laptop under his arm and had his bag in his hand. He wondered how big of a blow the team would get when they found out what they were going to.

When he opened the door to the hall, heads turned to look at him. He pushed through the crowd and as he did, he saw his wife's worried face. He looked at her once and nodded reassuringly. When he reached the front he stepped on to the podium and faced the audience.

"Good evening, people." he said. "We're here today for another briefing, so to speak. Agent Kim Fischer here," he said, motioning towards her, "has already notified you of the fact. Now, most of you people here might know what this is about. Some of you don't. So I'm going to ask Agent Fischer, as senior agent, to repeat the facts of the briefing. Please, Agent Fischer.' he said, nodding in her direction.

"Yes, Agent Wylie." she said. She then made her way through agents and then stepped onto the podium. "So," she said, facing them, "as Agent Wylie here told you, I'm going to repeat what's in the briefing. We have another break in the Red John case." Murmurs and whispers went through the crowd. "Silence, please." she urged. The commotion died in the agents. "Thank you." she said. "Now, for Red John-"

"Excuse me." someone broke in. "I'm sorry to interrupt, Agent, but how are we so sure it's Red John? It could be a copycat. We've had many copy cats posing to be serial killers in the FBI's criminal record."

"That, Donald is a very good question." she mused. "We have proof that it _could_ be Red John. When we were searching through Patrick Jane's house we found Red John's signature smiley face in the kitchen, the living room and the bathroom in blood." she said.

Gasps of horror filled the entire room.

"No, no." she assured. "Quick tests were done there and it was proven that the blood did not belong to Lisbon."

Sighs of relief went through the entire crowd.

"We do not know who the blood belongs to." she continued. "It was sent to forensics two days ago. We're expecting results by tonight. Now, Agents Wylie will brief the team about what they found in the case. Listen carefully as this is very valuable information. Thank you."

She stepped down from the podium and joined the crowd as Vega walked up to Wylie and stayed by his side. "Agents Abbott, Cho and Rigsby couldn't be present here because of Agent Van Pelt's critical condition in the hospital. They will make an appearance through Webcam." said Vega. Wylie turned on the laptop and connected it with the projector. At first the screen was blank but then the agents' neutral faces were visible on it. They were seated in chairs; Abbott in the middle, Cho to his right and Rigsby to his left.

"Hey guys." said Wylie. "Can you hear us?"

"Loud and clear." said Abbott.

"Good then." he said. "Okay so, earlier in the day I checked the backgrounds of people related to the case in anyway at all. It's protocol. Well, I found something unbelievable about Doctor Aaron White."

" _Jane's_ doctor?" asked Fischer incredulously.

"Yes." he confirmed. "Aaron White; that's not even his real name."

The crowd gave him confused looks.

"His whole identity is a fake. His birthplace, his DOB, his license; everything. Forensics sent me his fingerprints, so I did some matching. And Aaron White turns into..." Wylie tapped the keyboard a few times. The projecting screen flickered and then came an image of a burly looking man with a scarred face, thick beard and long hair. "Mancino Ruby; former member of a gang called 'Kill and Slaughter'. He'd been a member about seven years ago."

"Right when Jane killed Red John." murmured Rigsby from the screen.

"Exactly." Vega confirmed. "His new identity was clean as a whistle. But this one's got a lot of dirt." she took one of the papers from Wylie's bag and went through it once. "Mancino Ruby-" she said. "Wanted for murder, manslaughter, robbery, burglary, drug trafficking, assault, rape; you name it." She put down the paper and faced the crowd. "Guy had so much dirt on him he was going to be executed, ordered specifically by the FBI."

"I remember him." said Abbott from the Webcam. "We caught him for raping a fourteen year old girl in the middle of the night. We got a 911 call for that. Authorities then dug his ID a little deeper and then handed the case to us for a foul record. We didn't study his ID further after seeing what we saw; we just ordered an execution."

"We ordered the execution seven years ago." said Kim.

"Again; right after Jane killed Red John." said Rigsby.

"Yeah, but he disappeared." said Cho. "Two days before his execution, authorities came to his cell for checking on him and then they found it empty. Security cameras didn't see him and neither did the guards; he just disappeared. It was all over media."

"Yeah, I know. But that's not all about this guy." said Wylie as he took out a file from his bag. "He was a new doctor, apparently. And he was promoted as a doctor a week ago."

"Two days before Lisbon disappeared." said Rigsby.

"That's correct." he said. "His name is in the directory of citizenship for the States. But it was entered about a month ago."

"Which suggests that he came from another country." said Vega. "From where did he come?"

"That's the thing." said Wylie. "There's no record."

Kim raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean, there's no record?' she asked.

Wylie pointed to the screen. "Look at the record. There's no mention of real DOB, nationality, license; anything. Apparently, the details were in all the identity databases in the country, but they all got wiped out."

"All of them?" asked Cho in shock.

"All of them." he confirmed.

"But that's impossible!" exclaimed Abbott.

"No, it's not." said Rigsby. "Back in CBI, we've dealt heaps of cases like this. Deleted data, missing people and fake IDs. And each one was associated with Red John; the major cases, I mean."

"So we know that this guy is a Red John associate as Rigsby stated and that he just appears out of the blue in the US." said Fischer. "No real ID, no record and no history. Education, former occupation, family, nothing."

"That's right, ma'am." Wylie confirmed. "But at least we know that deleted data can be recovered. It takes a load of time but, as Rigsby said, we've seen wipeouts like this. It's going to be easy to at least follow the pattern-"

"Oh my God." whispered Vega in horror.

Everyone looked at her. "What?" asked Wylie urgently, holding her hand. "What is it?"

"Jane's in the hospital." she whispered, looking at him.

"So?" asked Kim.

Vega looked at her, eyes wide in disbelief. "Who do you think is with him?" she screeched. "Who do you think is his doctor?"

Everyone's mouth opened in horror as they processed what she asked.

"Ruby..." moaned Wylie.

"Someone has to secure Jane." said Vega, panic-stricken.

"We're on it." said Rigsby as he and the other two rushed out of their seats. "Send backup." he called to the Webcam as they rushed out of the room they were in.

"O-okay." stammered Kim as the others rushed out of the room for the hospital. Kim was alone in the room as she snatched her cell and called P.D. for backup, hoping that Jane didn't cross paths with his masked and evil doctor.

 **Thank you for patience. Took me time to write this. More chaps coming.**

 **Tell me if it's good. And if you have suggestions regarding the story. tell me that too.**


	18. Walking in heaven and hell

Jane walked through the deserted and manicured gardens of the hospital. For a medical facility this place did not pay less attention to its gardens. Roses of all colors were lining the pavements and the fences. Lavenders were embedded like crosses onto the sides. Every nook and cranny had blue, purple and pink forget-me-nots. Daisies of many colors were blooming amongst the roses. Every bit of the garden, _every bit,_ was covered with an array of magical colors. Orchids were blooming from the fences and tree branches. The branches of the fences were filled with orchids. There were all kinds of colors bursting through the orchids. For a moment Jane forgot where he was, and he felt like he was in a dream world. Where unicorns ran around on grasses that danced about. Trees which moved about with fairies sitting in the branches. Creeks made of moonstones and filled with sparkling water, mermaids and sirens singing about in there. Where witches and wizards cast spells and where princes and princesses ruled mystical kingdoms hiding sorcery and magic. Teresa would be astonished if she were here, seeing that he never believed in fairytales and such, but-

He stopped in his tracks. His heart then gave a painful lurch when he thought of his lovely Teresa. The mere thought of her name let out trapped tears from his longing eyes. He thought of the joy in Lisbon's eyes when she took in this garden, a little piece of heaven tucked away in a hospital. His heart gave away another electrifying jolt in his chest. He took a deep, determined breath. _When_ he found her; not _if_ he found her. He will find his wife, even if it kills him to do so. Annie will _not_ grow up without a mother. If he ends up alive when he found her, he'll embrace her tight and will never let her go; just to know that she was truly there with him.

His eyes were sore and tired for not seeing her such a long time. He longed to see her emerald eyes, her dazzling smile, her singing laughter and her rose-blushed cheeks. He longed to hold her hand, to feel the safe assurance of her warmth and touch. He longed to have her with him, to never let her get away from him. He _will_ find his Teresa. If he has to give his live in the process, he will very gladly do so.

The orchids he saw around him gave him more pain than his heart could take. It wheeled him back to his wedding day. He still remembered his glee as he waited for her. And when she showed up, he still remembered being dazzled by her beauty. Eyes green as polished jade; face as warm as a hearth; lips as pink as a dew-born rose; cheeks blushing red as berries; just like a bride's face should look like. But what was the most beautiful was her smile, which glistened brighter than the western sun, glowing her face like a warm, summer's evening. Her dress flowed down her slender figure like a waterfall of snow and rain, train riding like ice behind her. Her veil was small and delicate, smoothening her delicate face. The bouquet of flowers she held in her hand was an explosion of beauty, color and perfume.

Jane returned to reality from his dreams. The perfume of the sweet smelling flowers wrapped him in comfort. The night dew from the flowers sent a cozy and icy chill throughout his body. He wrapped his jacket around him tighter, feeling more comfortable than ever. It was a rather chilly night for June. As he looked up above, he sucked in a sharp breath. The night sky was black as ebony, but it was speckled with twinkling stars. They looked like shattered diamonds and crystals, mixed in together and speckled across black velvet. It was free of clouds and the moon was nowhere to be seen. He knew it was a stupid theory, but to him, it seemed like the moon was hiding because Lisbon wasn't here with him. He was sure that when he found her, it would come back and shine just for his family; him, his Teresa and their little baby angel. With the stars right above his head, he felt like he could touch them. He longed to, but it was not possible. And then suddenly, with the floral perfume engulfing him, the array of colors all around him, the dewy floral chill drinking him in and the stars lit high above him, a huge wave of misery crashed over him. He longed to have his family by his side. He longed for his Lisbon. He longed for his baby princess. He longed for the second chance life mercifully gave him. He made the mistake once of letting Angela and Charlotte go. He wasn't going to make the mistake again with his current happiness.

He checked his watch. The hands told him that it was 9:30 p.m. It was getting very late and Annie was waiting for him. He longed for his baby girl; he missed her so much. He wanted to run home and embrace her little body; to make sure that she was safe and sound. He missed her smile and her laughter, and the way she ran into his arms. What would he do when she asked about her mom? What would he say which won't break her heart in any way, even though that was impossible?

The matron told him that he could go home, but that he had to talk to his doctor; and so he headed back for the hospital. He crossed the gardens after a minute or two as he was jogging on his way. He entered the hospital and walked his way to the reception.

"Excuse me." he asked the pretty blonde lady. "Is Dr. Aaron White still in room 390?"

The woman smiled longingly at Jane. "Just a minute, please." she said a little too sweetly. Her cheeks were becoming redder by the minute. She tapped the keyboard a few times and then looked at Jane. She gave a soft sigh as she looked at him. "Doctor White doesn't have any appointments now so he should be in cabin 390." she said in her sugar-like voice. "May I give you an escort?" she asked hopefully.

"No, thank you." replied Jane with a dazzling smile.

The woman stared open-mouthed at his face but then regained herself. She looked very much disappointed as Jane set out for the elevators.

 _Yikes_ thought Jane.

As soon as he reached the third floor he set out for his room. A surprise waited for him there. He saw Cho and Abbott in front of his door looking more worried than he'd ever seen them. Cho had his arms tightly crossed across his arms and his eyes were on his feet. Abbott was sitting in one of the chairs with his hands folded under his chin and his eyes on the ground.

"Hey guys." he said cheerfully.

"They both turned their heads up and looked at him in shock. "Jane." Abbott said, standing up. "What are you doing here?" he asked angrily.

Jane was very surprised by his reaction. "I...came here to talk to my doctor; he said I could go home."

"Get out of here." he hissed. 'Jane, get out of here and don't come back. Get out of here!"

"Why?" He replied, confused. "What's wrong?"

"Jane, no questions." Abbott growled. "Just get out of here. That's an order. Get out!"

"I'm not moving until you tell me what's going on." he said, frowning.

"When the hell are you going to learn to do as you're told?" Abbott growled. Then his voice softened. "Jane, go away, I mean it. Don't come back. It's for your own good. Please go Jane, go!"

"No." Jane replied angrily.

Abbott was going to argue when Cho, who'd been quiet all this time, spoke up. "Abbott let him go." he said. "He should know about this, he has a right to."

Abbott looked at Cho angrily. "No, Cho." he hissed. "You of all people should know..."

"I know." replied Cho simply. "I know what he's going to go through. But you can't deny the fact that he has every right to know about it. And he _should_ know about it."

Abbott looked at him with a pleading expression.

Jane, who wasn't speaking all this time, became madder by the minute. "I should know _what_?" he demanded.

No one answered him. The two just looked at Jane with a pitiful expression.

"Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?" he growled.

Cho stepped away from the door. "See for yourself." he said.

Jane scrutinized his expression; it was neutral. Abbott, however, looked extremely pained. Jane made his way to the entrance and when he saw what he saw, he stopped in his tracks.

Abbott wasn't kidding when he said Jane wasn't prepared to see what he was seeing now.

What he saw was his doctor lying on the ground with a large pool of dark blood underneath him. What he saw was his arms and legs cut off and kept by his side. What he saw was cuts and stab marks covering every inch of his body.

And a red smiley face covering the wall on the back of his sickbed.


	19. Encounter with A blonde haired angel

Jane was beating himself up very badly. He was more miserable than ever. Jane didn't say anything while Abbott told him about Ruby. He listened with undivided attention. And after he knew the truth, he felt disgusted with himself.

He lost the _only_ person who could've led him to his wife. He lost the only person who could've led him to finish that monster. All this time, he'd been his doctor. He cured him; he was around him every moment of a day. He talked to him, smiled at him. He seemed like an ordinary and friendly doctor.

How on earth did Jane get deceived by his doctor's mask?

He felt very much like the time when Lorelei was dead. He never thought he could finish his nemesis again; and it tore him to meaningless pieces. This time, however, the pain was so much worse. It was his Teresa he was looking for now, the love of his life. How on earth could he have made such a foolish mistake?

He will redeem himself. He will finish the bastard, who started this trouble; who tried to snatch his life away from him. He will destroy him; and this time, he'll make sure he stays destroyed.

Rigsby came out from room 405 with a pained expression. The other two went to the HQ for evidence. Jane was requested by Rigsby to stay; and so he did. Rigsby wasn't looking very good. His eyes were red from crying. His face was pale and sweaty; as if he'd seen something terrifying. He'd asked Jane to stay out of 405 until he came out. When he asked why, Rigsby said he'll explain everything.

"Rigsby." said Jane after Wayne approached him. "What's going on?" he asked. "Who's in there?"

"Jane." Rigsby said in a grave voice. "Sit down for a second. We need to talk."

"About what?" he asked in confusion.

"I'm going to tell you Jane, but I need you to sit down first." he said.

"Is this about Annie? Is she okay?" he asked him frantically; sitting down.

"She's..." Rigsby hesitated, looking for the right word. "Safe." he said finally.

"What do you mean she's 'safe'?" he demanded. "I want an answer that says she's completely fine and unhurt."

Rigsby looked at him with a guilty expression.

Jane's fury melted into horror as he processed what he was guilty about. "She's hurt, isn't she?" he whispered miserably.

"Yes." Rigsby confirmed sadly.

"And I'm assuming not only mentally." he whispered again.

"No, she's physically hurt; and mentally too." murmured Rigsby.

"How bad?" he moaned in pain. Tears started flowing from his eyes and his jaws hurt trying to hold them back.

"Not bad at all. It's just a bruise."

Jane breathed a huge sigh of relief. But then his relief flared into anger again. "Tell me it wasn't _him_." he growled.

Rigsby looked alarmed. "No, no." he assured. "It wasn't Red John."

Jane's temper cooled down a bit. "Good." His voice became frantic again. "Where is she?"

"In there." said Rigsby, pointing to 405.

"In there?" Jane screeched. "She's the one you've been visiting and you haven't told me?"

"No, it's not just her I've been visiting." He replied tearfully.

Jane's fury melted into confusion. "Then who...?"

"See for yourself." he whispered, and walked to the room with Jane at his heels. Rigsby opened the door and Jane walked into the room first.

"Annie." he moaned in joy after seeing her sleeping face in one of the two beds.

He ran to her side and sat on the edge of the bed near her head. There was a little bandage tied around her forehead and near her elbow. Jane scanned her figure once and found no more wounds. Annie's eyes were fluttering slowly and cradled her head in his hands. Tears streamed down his cheeks and fell on to Angelina's face. That made her wide awake. She looked around after she opened her eyes, finally resting them on her father's face. She took her time processing him; and after she did, she smiled a dimply and dazzling smile.

"Daddy?" she asked happily, sitting up.

"Oh, Annie." he moaned before tightly embracing his daughter's body. She twined her tiny arms around Jane. Jane ran his hands through her curls in relief. She smelled like raspberries and metal. Her body was very warm; and so Jane worried that she had a fever. He looked at her once and smiled in relief at her. She smiled a beautiful smile back at him. He hugged her tightly again, feeling relieved by her touch and warmth. He felt relieved by her presence; and he never wanted to let her go.

"Daddy, you were in the doctor room." she said, letting him go. "You were sleeping. I try to wake you up but you didn't." she said in a broken voice. "I miss you."

Her words broke his heart. More tears streamed down Jane's eyes. "It's okay." he murmured soothingly; in tears. "I missed you too, sweetie. Daddy is here now, and daddy will never go away from you again."

She smiled brightly. "Promise?" she asked eagerly.

"Promise." he vowed, his voice breaking.

She squealed in delight. Jane felt a flood of warmth fill him when he heard the song of her laughter. Her green eyes were just like her mother's; bright and polished emeralds. His heart broke again when he remembered Lisbon. He still didn't let Angelina go; she was sitting on his lap and Jane had his arms around her tiny chest. He had to know that she was truly there with him and this wasn't some kind of dream.

"Daddy, where is Mommy?" she asked him.

There it was. Jane's worst fear came true. What was he going to do, lie to her? He was tired of lying to people, especially himself. But he also couldn't tell her the truth. It would shatter her beyond repair.

"Aunt Grace told me that she was in a fairytale fighting a bad man." she said proudly. "She told me that Mommy is a princess."

"Oh she did, did she?" Grace was a lifesaver. She managed not to lie to Annie and she also managed not to break her heart. Jane was very impressed with her quick thinking. "Yes, baby." he whispered in her ear. "Mommy is fighting a very bad man." _Oh Annie,_ he thought _, if only you knew how bad._

"When will she come home?" she sniffled. "I miss her so much."

Jane couldn't agree with her less. "I miss your mom too, Annie. I miss her so much." he said, his voice breaking. "But she'll back Annie. I promise she'll be back for us."

"Yay!" she squealed, clapping her hands; breaking his heart furthermore.

Rigsby had been quiet all this time, so Jane looked around and spotting him holding a hand peeking out of the other bed. Jane straightened his head to get a better look; and he caught a wisp of flaming red hair.

Van Pelt.

"That's Aunt Grace." said Annie sadly. "She's very hurt, Daddy."

"How, sweetheart?" he asked her.

"She won't tell me." she said unhappily.

He set Angelina down on the bed and pulled the blanket over her. He patted her hair and kissed her cheek. He then approached the other bed. He looked over and saw Grace's face and when he did, he was absolutely horrified. Wounds covered every inch of her creamy skin. Her eyebrows were furrowed, like something was troubling her in her sleep.

He put his hand on Rigsby's shoulder. "Wayne." he said as Rigsby turned around. "Tell me what happened." He became angry then. "Tell me that _this_ wasn't Red John."

"No, this wasn't Red John either." he said, nearly in tears. "It was an-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the door cracked open and Abbott came in. "We got three reports in the FBI HQ." he said in a grave tone. "They are nothing you are going to like."


	20. Misery with a squeeze of hatred

**A/N: I really want to thank all the people who supported me through this story. queen45, arala, Liz, missdonniex, munkeyfump20, nic73, Rosepuny and all the others. Especially queen 45. And all the guests. Thank you so much for being with me. I am working hard to finish this story. Thank you so much. Please leave reviews!**

Jane and Rigsby followed Abbott through the corridors of the hospital to a vacant cabin somewhere around the corner. As the trio entered, Jane saw that the cabin was occupied temporarily. Vega, Cho, Wylie and Fischer were waiting for them. A portable computer was stashed up in a corner, and the small wooden table was sprawled with untidy heaps of files and papers. They all had grave expressions on their faces, clearly not happy with something.

"What'd you find?" asked Rigsby.

Kim exhaled deeply and gave him a document. Morgan Tyler's picture was clipped on the top. He was a decent looking man; tan skin, dark hair and brown eyes. There was a certain mystery in his eyes which was hard to put a finger on.

"Who's he?" asked Jane.

Rigsby looked at him in confusion. "Vega didn't tell you about Morgan Tyler?" he asked.

"Oh, _that's_ Morgan Tyler." he apprehended. "No, she told me about him."

"Okay." said Rigsby. He looked at the file once and then looked at Wylie. "Wylie, what am I looking at?"

"This is the coroner's report for Morgan Tyler." he told him. "She tried to find out how old the body was and it was a hit." He sighed deeply once. "The body is seven years old."

"Oh, no." said Abbott. "Which means that Tyler stepped up for watching the morgue because of Red John; he's a Red John associate. Was Tyler already working at the morgue when the body came in?"

"No, sir." said Fischer. "He joined the crew a week after Red John's assumed death."

"Which proves my point that he indeed is an associate." said Abbott. "He could have known anytime that he was dead."

"So Tyler knew Red John for two years before he 'died'." said Jane. Everyone was surprised to see him speak at all.

"Yeah." said Cho.

"Okay. Second Report?" asked Jane anxiously.

"The Red John Symbols painted in Jane's house were all made with Mancino Ruby's blood." said Vega.

"What?" exclaimed Rigsby.

"Red John symbols were painted in _my_ house?" Jane asked angrily. "With my _doctor's_ blood?"

"How's that even possible?" Rigsby asked incredulously. "Blood was found when Lisbon was taken and that was a week ago. Ruby was killed today."

"Well, I took reports of every unit in this facility." said Kim. "The blood bank said that Ruby donated his blood to an anonymous patient. What's weird was patient had no id and no cabin in the hospital according to records. Bank didn't want to give blood; before Ruby pointed a gun at the staff."

"Anonymous patient was Red John." Jane breathed.

"Why didn't they report that?" asked Abbott.

"He threatened to kill them." said Cho simply.

"Of course." Abbott said skeptically.

"But why did he take Ruby's blood?" asked Vega.

"Vega dear, the question 'why' never applies when it comes to Red John." said Jane.

"Right." She decided.

"All right. So what's the third report?" Jane asked.

Everyone looked at each other anxiously.

"Well come on, what's the third report?" he asked again.

They all just looked pitifully at Jane.

"What's wrong?" demanded Jane, frowning.

"You're not going to like the third report." whispered Fischer.

"Do I like anything right now, Kim?" he asked painfully.

"No, but this is something you really don't want to hear." said Rigsby.

"I'll hear it any way." he decided. "I believe I have a right to."

Everyone sighed deeply. "Okay, then." said Wylie. "We got security footage from your house and what we found..." he exhaled. "Isn't good."

He turned on the computer and opened a video file. Jane's house could be clearly seen and the front door was in perfect view. Jane leaned in close to the computer and focused his eyes on the front gate. There was nothing at first, but after a minute or two, something was moving in front of the front door.

"Zoom in." Jane urged.

"No use." Wylie said, zooming nevertheless. "His back was to the cameras then."

It was definitely a man. He was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, dark jeans and black shoes. Posture was straight and confident. He went inside the house. Jane was becoming more worried by the minute. Finally, the man stepped out of the house cradling a woman. He gasped as tears streamed down his eyes.

Lisbon.

She was sleeping and unhurt. She was wearing her night dress. A white, knee length, sleeveless and puffed up dress. It hurt Jane's eyes to see her again; it also relieved him. He then saw something which sucked him of life.

Marcus Pike's face hidden beneath the hood.

He couldn't breathe or think anymore. His heart stopped beating and his eyes were frozen on the screen. He felt paralyzed and numb. His head was spinning in shock and misery. The next second, he felt several arms steadying him as he collapsed onto the ground; and that was the last thing he remembered before blacking out into unconsciousness.

 **A/N: And there you go! Another chapter done and moving. Sorry for all the delays, my life has been crazy the past month. We're getting ready for moving to a new house. Thank you again so much for the help and tips; and also for bearing with me all this while. Please leave reviews! And follows and favs if you like it! See you in the next chapter.**


	21. A Bleeding Bitter Heart

**A/N: Hi guys! Here I am with another chapter. I beg you please support me through this story. I already worked on another fanfic idea. Please leave reviews. It means a lot.**

Jane was still feeling numb from processing the horrible truth.

 _He's here._

 _He_ took his Lisbon away from him. _He_ was the one causing all this misery. _He_ was the one who was causing Lisbon pain. What if he did something to her... _tortured_ her?

He suddenly forgot the fact that he was supposed to be courteous with Marcus Pike. He never felt more hatred towards anyone this way except for Red John. He wasn't going to spare him, not at all. He won't listen if Teresa protested, even if she begged, which is something she would most likely do. He was going to kill him; kill him slowly and painfully for all the trouble he caused.

Despite his vengeful vows, he couldn't process the impossible incident.

 _He's here._

He works for Red John.

 _Why now? Why wait for so many years and then hatch a plan? Why didn't Pike just confront me? Why didn't he just kill me? What does he really want?_

And then it hit him.

 _He doesn't want to kill me._

 _He wants Lisbon._

 _And he wants me to suffer as much as he wants Lisbon to suffer._

So Red John tracked Pike down, because he would very gladly do what he was ordered to do. Red John told him what he wanted to hear; they both would get to see Jane suffer and Pike would get Lisbon back.

Red John did a pretty good job in making him suffer.

If either of those bastards laid a hand on Lisbon, they won't make it through the day.

He pondered over this very carefully as Cho and the doctor argued outside the cabin.

"...told you, Agent, I told you!" she hissed. "That man isn't stable yet. His brain is still not functioning properly. He won't react well to shocks and blows; emotional or physical. You should not have shown him that tape. That man is not in a good condition now."

"Doctor Emma, I know the threats and risks. I know every one of them." Cho calmly said. "But you must understand. That man over there is an investigator for the Federal Bureau. Having found any information and not passing it over to him would be a violation of rules."

"I don't care, Agent." she argued. "That man's life is in danger now. I think I forgot to tell you one little detail. This time it was just plain shock. But the shock he overcame before, that was a minor stroke."

Cho's voice was very astonished. "A stroke?"

"That's right, a stroke." she said angrily. "That's the reason he couldn't respond to humane activity. Something shocked him to such an extent his brain couldn't take the overload; minor stroke. Two normal strokes and you're gone. But you should be really lucky it's minor stroke. A person can stay alive for four minor strokes. After that, gone. The shock he received just now _almost_ happened to be a minor stroke."

"We'll be careful." Cho concluded.

She exhaled deeply. "I warned you, Agent." she sighed. "I really did try. If anything happens to him, his blood is not on my hands. It's on yours, the FBI's. I really tried to save the man, but apparently, work is valued more than life between the walls of your bureau." Jane heard sounds of heels clattering away as Dr. Emma left.

He had a _stroke?_ He almost wanted to laugh, but taking the seriousness of the matter, he didn't. Cho then stepped into the room with a very sorry look on his face. His posture was more rigid than ever and he crossed his arms tightly across his chest. "You heard that." he stated.

"Yes, I did." he confirmed. "Every word, loud and clear."

"Tell me you'll get through this." Cho said; pulling a chair and sitting beside him on the bed.

"What do you think, Cho?" he mocked.

"You'll get through this." he replied.

Jane was going to say something but just then, Wylie rushed into the room with a horrified expression. "Cho, something's wrong." he said.

"What?" Cho asked suspiciously.

"Anonymous person or persons sent a file to the FBI database; an audio file. It's locked." he said as Jane's eyes widened. "That's not possible sir, because our database cannot be accessed by any other unit or bureau. Our database is locked and secured."

"Marcus Pike." Jane whispered. "He worked for the FBI once and we gave him the database encryption password. Even after I told Abbott no." he frowned. "Another reason why Red John took in Marcus Pike."

"We should go." said Cho. As Jane was getting up from bed, Cho pressed his hand against Jane's shoulder. "You're staying here." he ordered. "You're not thinking anything straight and you're sick."

"Cho, she's my wife." he croaked painfully. "How do you expect me to think straight and sit here knowing that she is taken by a man I thought I killed seven years ago and a man I took her away from five years ago?"

Cho's expression was apologetic. "You're right." he decided. "She's your wife and you love her. You have a right to know about everything going on."

Wylie came forward and patted Jane's shoulder. "That's right." he said.

"Thanks guys." he said. "Come on, we have to move fast."

They both rushed to the parking lot of the hospital. Wylie grabbed the car keys and the trio got into the car. They set out for the HQ. It was raining heavily. Jane checked his watch. The dial read 5:00 am. The sun was just barely up. The rest of the sky was a dark navy blue color, but the horizons were tinted a rosy flaming color; crimson, red, orange and pink mixed in and painted across the eastern horizon. The stars were still twinkling bright in the darker parts of the sky. It looked so beautiful; an array of spray painted colors.

They reached the FBI parking lot in no time. They hastily parked the car and slammed the door on their way to the bullpen. Everybody was waiting for them; and Grace was trying to crack the encryption code of the file.

"Grace." he called. Everyone looked up from their work, startled to see him come at all. "For the password, try Teresa Lisbon Jane, Roy Tagliaferro, Marcus Pike, Thomas McAllister and Red John."

"Why do you think one of them is the password?" she asked; eyes wide in surprise.

"I guessed." he said like that was obvious.

Grace gave him a questioning look but thought better of it. She tried in the passwords he suggested and gasped loudly. "Teresa Lisbon Jane-that's the password!" she exclaimed.

Abbott and Fischer looked at him in awe. "I don't care what you say." said a dumbstruck Vega. "You're psychic."

"There's no such thing as psychics." He frowned. "Anyway, what's the file?"

Grace hit the play button and listened intently to the audio.

"Hello Patrick." said the dreadfully familiar voice. "I know you are listening to this tape right now. I also know you could correctly guess the password, very good. I'm impressed. I also know that you found out Teresa's old love is involved in our little game. I am giving you three minutes to ponder over what you are thinking right now. Then I'll continue."

He didn't know what to think about and he didn't care.

The others gasped and murmured anxiously around. The terrible stench of hatred and longing swam in the air. Jane even heard a sob or two. As for him, he didn't know what he felt.

He felt pure anger and hate boiling in his veins, wanting to snatch the speaker out of the audio and tear him apart. He felt fierce protectiveness towards his love; who was in there somewhere, waiting to be rescued. He felt waves of guilt yapping at him, letting him know it was his fault he left her alone in the first place.

The hate overpowered everything he felt. He was suddenly hungry for shedding blood of the men who took his life away from him, over and over again. He wanted to smash them into shattered cells and make them evaporate into the air. No matter what happens he _will_ do that. He will bring Annie's mother home. He will keep his life with him forever.

The audio voice started to speak again; Roy Tagliaferro spoke. "You've had your time, Patrick. I know you want to kill me. But you don't need to, believe me."

There was silence for the next seconds, except for Jane's ragged breathing.

"Now," the voice spoke again. "For the fun part."

 **A/N: Okay, so I left you on a cliffhanger. Wanna know the mystery? Stay tuned and please bear with me. It's my first fanfic! It is messed up I know. Please leave reviews. It really does mean a lot. I'll update the story soon. Love you amazing people!**


	22. The untrue farewell

**A/N: I would really love to thank Missdonniex, Donnamour1969, queen45, ashesfan0810 and all the wonderful guests for their highly encouraging reviews. Especially ashesfan0810! And as usual, queen45. :D Thank you so much for the support. I'll try to update two chapters every day; I'll** _ **try.**_ **I'll appreciate each support, I can promise you that. Usually I update one chapter a day. Ashesfan0810 you didn't review chapter 18! :D I'm kidding. I'm kidding.**

 **Chapter 22**

Jane was clenching his fists so tight his nails dug deep into his palms and created red bite mark patterns on his palms. He tried rid himself of all feeling and stay neutral; tried to make his rage go temporarily to the back of his head but as usual, he couldn't. He listened to rest of the audio.

"Okay Patrick." the voice mused. "I have a surprise for you."

Jane held his breath while the audio went silent. What was this surprise the monster was going to give him?

"Let go of me!" a scratchy female voice said. Jane sucked in a sharp breath.

He knew that voice too well.

"Oh my God." whispered Van Pelt.

"No, it can't be." moaned Vega.

Kim was astonished. "Is that...?"

"Lisbon." Jane breathed.

His heart throbbed in his chest at the sound of her voice. She was alive. She was alive! But then, Jane realized something in horror.

 _Let go of me._ She said _Let go of me._

They were hurting her.

His blood boiled in his body. Boiled in fury, misery, hate; everything he felt towards the bastards. They were hurting his Teresa. He wanted to flinch away from the mental image, but it came anyway. Lisbon, lying on the floor screaming as blood flowed down her forehead, her body, her mouth...

He snarled as angry tears flowed down his eyes and as he clenched his fist even tighter. If they hurt her, hurt her in any way at all...

It was a very gruesome punishment he was thinking for those two.

"Speak Teresa." the voice ordered. "Patrick will be hearing you."

Lisbon sobbed quietly. "Jane?" she whispered.

That one word blasted Jane's mind into shreds.

"Oh Lisbon..." moaned Abbott.

"Jane, if you're hearing me," she sobbed "don't come here. Please don't come here. It's what he wants. Don't look for me. I..." she sobbed even harder. "I'm already dead, Jane. I'm already dead." She sniffled and coughed, and when she spoke again, Jane could almost hear a smile in her voice. "I love you, Jane. Tell Annie I love her. Tell her she means the world to me. Tell her I'll miss her." she gasped in pain. "You both are my whole world. I'm lucky to ever get you two." she sniffled. "I'll miss you." She sniffed and took a deep breath. "I love you, Jane." she whispered. "Goodbye."

He couldn't hear her voice anymore. She was gone.

Jane couldn't feel anything more. He couldn't feel his anger anymore. His body robbed him of emotions and speech. He couldn't feel his misery, his pain, his hatred, his fear; nothing. He couldn't feel the ground beneath his feet. He couldn't feel the air he was breathing. He couldn't feel the sorrowful stares on his back. He tried to feel his heartbeat; nothing. He couldn't sense the blood running in his veins. He couldn't find his voice. He couldn't feel his body anymore.

Teresa made his heart beat. She made his blood run in his veins. She made him stand strong. She gave him his voice, his strength, his breath, his life; everything. So if she wasn't here...

How could he ever live again?

Jane's attention was caught by his nemesis's voice. "Teresa _does_ love you a lot, Patrick." the voice chuckled. "It really warms my heart to see such love between two people. Now," he paused for a moment. "Listen carefully. I'm a merciful human being, Patrick. Despite what you've done to me. I'll give you a chance to win back your Teresa. I am giving you a week. Follow the clues and find me. We'll see what happens then. If not..." he paused again. There was a sound of a hard object hitting flesh.

Then, Jane could hear Lisbon's blood curdling scream.

Her scream chilled him to his bones. He blacked out. He could see everything but internally, his heart, not being able to take the pain, blacked out. His senses were cut off, and he couldn't feel _anything._ He was surprised that he was still standing, despite the pain and the horrible truth.

They were torturing her.

They were torturing his Lisbon.

"Worse will happen if you don't find me, Patrick." the voice said again, bringing Jane back to earth. "I really don't want to hurt Teresa. I'm quite fond of her. She's very beautiful. So I suggest you start hurrying." the voice paused. "Now."

The computer beeped, indicating the end of the file.

Everyone was frozen to their spots, not breathing. The only sounds in the room were of the beeping computer and the ticking of the clock. The blow hit them hard on their minds; and they weren't reacting kindly to the pain.

Vega moved first. She raised her red and puffed up eyes to Jane. She closed the gap between them in four strides and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Jane?" she whispered hesitantly.

Jane let his eyes wander; comprehending his surroundings. Grace was sobbing quietly; and so were Wylie and Rigsby. Silent tears were streaming down Fischer's and Cho's eyes. Abbott kept his eyes closed as he cried; as if he were praying.

"I-I'll b-be in m-my office." Jane whispered his voice horribly broken and scratchy.

And as he walked away slowly, his knees breath trembling, Grace called out to him in a worried and broken moan. "Jane..."

Fischer restrained her with red and puffy eyes. "Don't." she whispered. "Let him go."

Grace slowly nodded. Everyone watched with broken hearts as Jane staggered up the stairs to the attic.

 **A/N: There you go; another chapter finished. Thank you all so much for your continued support. Please, please review. I'll post another chapter soon. See you again!**


	23. A Black and Ashy Universe

**A/N: Thank you all again so much for your support, I couldn't have done it without you. I would like to thank auntcj for leaving a heartwarming review. I want to thank everyone who left a review. Thank you all so much. Start of new chapter!**

Jane was lying on his bed in the attic and staring up at the fading stars in the sky.

The sky was losing its dark color gradually **.** The sky was an icy blue color now. The colors in the horizon spread and changed into a more orange-like color. The stars began to fade; and the sun was peeking behind the high rise buildings, letting out first light.

Jane thought everything looked dull.

He lay on his bed with his hands beneath his head, endless tears streaming from his eyes. He heard her scream today. He heard them hit her. He heard her telling him to let go.

How could she be so stupid and think that was going to happen?

No, he wasn't going to give up. Not when she was around here somewhere; very much alive and waiting for him. Not when Angelina was crying for her mom every single day. Not when Jane's family wasn't complete by his side.

No, he won't give up. He will search for Lisbon. And he will find her. And when he does, he'll kill the monsters who hurt her, laid hands on her. He'll kill them for making her scream, for making her cry and sob. He'll kill them for bringing tears to Annie's eyes.

He'll kill them for snatching his family and happiness away from him.

He wondered how he still felt the ground beneath his feet; wondered why he didn't stop breathing. He wondered why he couldn't stop his senses. He wondered why the universe was still going as normally as it was and why he didn't curl into a ball from all the misery. He wondered how he was even living now, since everything he ever stood for is gone.

But then, as long as Lisbon and Annie lived, everything he stood for wasn't gone. He will find Lisbon, and reunite her with their daughter. He'll never let her get away from him. Ever again.

He needed to start thinking now. Red John said he gave him a week. If he didn't make it...

The memory of hearing Lisbon's scream broke his heart and burned his mind.

 _Follow the clues._ Red John said _Follow the clues._

Follow _the_ clues.

Red John left clues. He was challenging Jane.

So Jane had to find the clues and get to Lisbon. There were so many possibilities. He had time to think, he knew. But then, Red John was a merciless monster. He lies, he always does. Deception and betrayal was his trophy. Fear was his food. He was no better than a devil. How could Jane be assured of his "promise"?

He had to believe though. Otherwise the painful images will never go away from his head. The pain itself will never get away. The little piece of life he still had in him would be sucked away. He'll never have hope of happiness again.

He was suddenly remembering a scene from a year ago. The team went to California for a trip down the memory lane. They went through the vineyards of Napa. Annie was playing with Ben and Madeleine in the sun and amongst the endless number of grapevines arranged in order. Lisbon was by Jane's side, his arm around her shoulders. She had smiled in her joy and Jane had kissed her sweetly, brushing his lips softly against hers.

The memory of the kiss lifted Jane's spirits. He got up from his bed and rubbed is eyes, ready to look at the case files. But just then, there was a hesitant knock on his door.

"Jane?" Abbott hesitantly asked.

"Yeah?" he answered, his voice a little broken and uneven.

"I'm sorry, you need to be alone. This was a mistake." he said, his footsteps making noise as he walked away.

"No, no, Abbott." Jane replied, rushing to the door and opening it. "You can come."

Abbott had a very surprised face as he walked into the room. As Jane shut the door, he saw Abbott's grave but sympathetic expression.

"Jane...How are you?" he asked uncertainly.

"I don't know, Dennis." he whispered. "I don't know anything right now."

"I'm sorry." he murmured.

"It's not your fault." he whispered. "None of this is your fault. If anyone's at fault here, it's me Dennis, it's me."

"No, it's not your fault, Jane." Abbott protested. "It's nobody's fault here but theirs."

Abbott was talking about Pike and Red John.

"This is not on you." he said again. "How do you feel?"

"How I feel Abbott?" he whispered, crying again. "I feel angry and afraid. I-I feel like tearing him into pieces for what he did to me. I feel a-afraid because I don't know what they're doing to her. I feel guilty be-because I kn-know it's my fault she's away from me. I f-feel terrible because I-I'm the one who made Angelina cry. I feel angry because I don't know h-how this happened and w-what is going on. I feel empty and scared. I feel that I am sucked out of life. I feel like the ground is being snatched away from under my feet. I feel the weight of the universe down on my shoulders. I feel my knees trembling because I don't have the strength to fight back. I feel dizzy because I don't know what to do. I feel like shouting out my fury to the whole world because no one will hear me if I just talk."

Abbott looked at him with a shocked expression.

"That's right, Abbott." he whispered, his voice terribly uneven and broken. "I feel miserable."

Abbott then approached Jane and patted his shoulder. "You're Patrick Jane." he said confidently. "You can't give up like this. You have to get through this."

"I don't know, Abbott..."

"Yes you do know. You're going to bring her back because I know you can do it." He looked in his eyes with penetrating brown eyes. "We are going to get through this; you are too."

Jane smiled the tiniest of smiles and looked at Abbott. "Thank you, Dennis."

"You're welcome."

Just then, Jane's door swung open and Cho stood outside the door with a grave expression on his face.

"Boss, there's a report on Tyler and Ruby." he said serenely.

"Okay, good." Abbott said, approaching the door.

"There's something else. For Jane." Cho said, taking a deep breath.

"What is it?" asked Jane.

Cho looked at Jane in the eye. "Rosalind Harker's waiting for you downstairs. She said that Roy Tagliaferro brought her in."

 **A/N: Another cliff hanger then! What do you think happened then? Stay tuned to find out.**

 **Thank you all again for supporting me. You really are an inspiration. This is all for you guys. I'll post another chapter soon. Please, please leave reviews, they mean a lot. Love you guys. See you next chapter!**


	24. Red Striped Memories

**A/N: Thank you all again for the encouraging reviews. It means a lot to me.**

Jane sucked in a surprised breath as he took in Rosalind's beautified form.

Her fiery red hair wasn't framing her face and her shoulders the way it usually does. It was piled up into a soft crown over her head, spilling curls. It was glossier and longer than before. She was wearing a red silk dress. Not a puffed up one; this dress fell down her slender frame like a silken rainfall. Her eyes still had that empty silvery look; but somehow they looked shiny today, happy. Her face was almost glowing in joy, a dimply smile emphasizing on the fact.

Jane quietly approaches Rosalind and took her hand. "Rosalind?"

Her smile became brighter. "There you are, Patrick." she mused. "Roy told me to say hello."

There it was again; that lurching pain in his chest which set the whole world aflame in anger. "Well," he said bitterly. "Hello to Roy."

She sighed very deeply. "Patrick, I told you he'll come back for me." she murmured. "He never left me alone. I might be a blind woman, but I can sense his feelings for me. This dress, for instance..." she paused to twirl once, happily. "He gave it to me. Tell me, isn't it lovely?" she asked eagerly.

Everyone stared at her in awe and astonishment. How could she not know who Roy really was? How could she get betrayed by his courteous mask?

Jane's heart was in his throat, almost choking him as he answered her. "Yes." he breathed. "It's beautiful."

She smiled a dazzling smile and then scrunched eyebrows with remembrance. "Oh, I almost forgot." she said. She then took a photograph out of her red purse and handed it to him. "Roy told me to give you this."

Jane slowly took the photograph from her with shaking hands. He took in the photograph's contents and his eyes couldn't believe what they saw.

In the photo were Ruby and Tyler, standing happily with two girls amidst of them. Ruby on the far left, Tyler on the far right with the girls between them.

Miranda and Lorelei Martins.

Everyone gathered around to look at the photo and they were shell shocked to see what they saw. They all stared at Rosalind with wide eyes.

There was a different kind of pain in Jane's chest. One that didn't come from longing and pain; but one that came from sadness and bitterness. This photo of Lorelei brought back memories. Angela, Charlotte, CBI, Las Vegas, Red John; all of it. But it also brought memories he desperately wanted to lose. Their night together, for one. It was still a sore subject between him and Lisbon.

He was still clutching the photograph tightly when he looked at Rosalind. "Rosalind?" he asked; frowning. "Did Red Jo-Roy," he corrected himself, "Tell you something when he gave you this photo?"

"No." she answered. "He just told me to give this to you. And he told me to stay here until he can come and get me."

Jane sucked in a sharp breath. He motioned Kim towards him and when she came, he brought her ear to his lips. "Set up security for her." he whispered. "She's not safe, we both know that."

Kim raised her head and nodded in confirmation. "This way, ma'am." she motioned as Rosalind followed her to the securing rooms.

Abbott gave Wylie a hard look. "Wylie search for their family ties, relations, information; everything. Step on it."

"Yeah, boss." he quickly said and strode over to his desk with a worried Vega at his heels.

"Van Pelt and Rigsby, go to identity database and track down Tyler's family. If you find them, interrogate them. If not, track down Lorelei's family and ask them about the photo."

"Okay, boss." said Van Pelt and went with Rigsby down the stairs.

"Cho; go and secure Harker and interrogate her, see if she can tell you anything. Fischer's with you."

"Okay." he said and walked away to the direction where Kim went.

"Jane." said Abbott. "We're going to Ruby's house."

"All right." he said as they went to the elevator.

Jane and Abbott were waiting for the security guard to give him the spare key to Ruby's apartment. He went about ten minutes ago and still didn't retrieve the key. Jane and Abbott were getting tired of waiting.

Abbott was impatiently tapping his foot while Jane was taking a look around the parking lot. All the time, Jane noticed Abbott scrutinizing him intently, and it gave him a bad feeling that an uncomfortable conversation was on its way.

He was right. "Jane." said Abbott. "Can we talk for a second?"

"Sure." said Jane, not looking at him.

Abbott cleared his throat. "In private."

Jane turned around. "What?"

"In private."

He shrugged uncomfortably. "Okay."

They went to the corner of the parking lot in the waiting room. There were two tables in the room and nine chairs. Abbott grabbed two for him and Jane. Jane took a deep breath as they sat down.

"So, what's this about?" asked Jane.

"Ok. So, um...I...err..." he was hesitating. It was going to be a _very_ uncomfortable conversation.

"It's okay, Abbott, just shoot." said Jane.

Abbott looked at him uncertainly. "So, um, while...you were in Vegas...when you worked for the CBI, during an undercover operation for Red John..." he took a deep breath. "...you met Lorelei Martins?"

Jane sighed heavily. He knew this was coming.

"Yes." he answered; a little dryly.

"Okay." said Abbott. "I'm just clarifying stuff. She was Red John's mistress?"

"Yeah."

"Ok. So...err..." he looked very uncomfortable now. "You...slept with her?"

Jane was shocked that he could ask such a question. He still kept a poker face.

"Um...yes." he said, shrugging.

"For one night?"

"Yeah."

"To catch Red John?"

"Definitely."

"So...hmm...uh..." he was not looking pleased. "Did you have any...feelings for her back then? Um...emotional weaknesses?"

 _That's an odd question._ "No." he said.

"Okay." he said uncertainly. "You helped her escape from prison?"

"Yes, I did."

"She kidnapped you?"

"No, I made it look like she kidnapped me when in fact; I took her away to get her to tell me who Red John was." _Is,_ he angrily thought.

"She didn't tell you?"

"No, she was still faithful."

"She took you to her sister's cabin?"

"Yeah."

He squirmed a little. "Did anything...happen between...you two, over there?"

"That's odd." he mused. "No, nothing happened."

"You helped her escape again when CBI was looking for her?"

"Yes, she didn't believe me when I told her that Red John killed her sister, Miranda; so I told her to go find the truth for herself."

"Then you found her killed by Red John, the last time you saw her; the first time after her escape?"

"Yes, she found out the truth and wanted revenge. Red John killed her." he said simply.

"When you were...together..." he paused "...did she tell you about Ruby or Tyler?"

"No." he said.

"Okay." he paused. "Well, that going to be all." he said, as he was standing up.

"Wait, Abbott..." Jane asked as Abbott turned to look at him "...why were you asking me all that?"

"You know." he said skeptically. "Information. FBI database does not have the full record of you. I needed to find out if you knew about Ruby or Tyler." He grinned at Jane. "You are a complex chapter in the criminal record and the database."

"I am?" he smirked.

"Absolutely and positively true."

"Well, you lied about the reason you asked me those questions but we'll get to that later." he mused. Let's check for the security guard now, shall we?" he got up from his chair and walked to the guard's office, leaving a wide eyed and dumbstruck Abbott in the waiting room.

Jane walked to the main door and saw the security guard hurrying towards him.

"Man, what took you so long?" he asked, exasperated.

"Sorry, keys were lost for a minute back there." he muttered.

Abbott walked up to the duo and faced the guard. "Take us to his room, will you?"

"Okay." said the guard.

They all walked to the elevator and pressed the thirteenth button. As soon as they reached the floor, the guard walked to a door with a red colored 13 painted on it.

"This room always freaked me out." said the guard to Jane a he was twisting the key.

"Why?" asked Abbott.

"Thirteenth room of the thirteenth floor." said Jane.

"Exactly." said the guard.

"Oh." said Abbott.

The lock opened and the guard stepped aside for Jane to walk through. He twisted the knob and opened the door to the living room.

What he saw...

Damn, he was _so_ not ready to see that.

 **A/N End of another chapter! I would like to thank Missdonniex, ashesfan0801, queen45 and auntcj for their loving reviews and support. Thank you guys so much for being with me all this time. See you next chapter! Love you guys.**

 **P.S. Sorry I left you on a cliffhanger. But that's the whole fun of it!**


	25. The Love and the Pain

**A/N: Thank you all so much for your patience. I already mentioned that no chapters on Fridays and Saturdays. We are near to the end! There will probably be a few more chapters, excluding the epilogue. So maybe by this week, this story will be finished. Then I'll start working on my new story. Thank you all again so much for the reviews. Thanks to queen45, auntcj, ashesfan0810 and the guests for supporting me throughout this story. Please share this story and leave reviews. Chapters will be big from now on!**

Jane was not feeling good.

His stomach wanted to propel itself out of his body. His insides almost came out in disgust. He plugged his nose for the rotting stench but it didn't work. The fumes reached their way to Jane's insides, making him recoil; whimpering and groaning.

Then he felt immense pity at what he saw. Strewn across the floor were at least ten female bodies; naked and mercilessly cut all over. His heart almost exploded in sadness. Their faces looked somewhat calm, even after the pain they'd suffered; Jane had no earthly idea why.

The security guard wasn't a man of strong heart; he fainted as soon as he took in the scene. Abbott wasn't as terrified, but he was hyperventilating; Jane could hear him gasping loudly behind him.

He knew who caused these girls their death. He knew who brought them pain and misery. He knew who tortured them to death. The answer was so clear.

The living room wallpaper was painted with more than a dozen red smiley faces; blood dripping from the eyes like tears.

Cho and Fischer were pacing outside the security room as Rosalind was asleep inside.

They'd taken her to one of the the small security suites the FBI used to secure people. After Rosalind was there for about an hour, she told Fischer that she was tired and fell asleep. She refused to remove the wedding dress, even though Fischer begged her to wear casual clothes she brought for her; black blouse, blue jeans and blue heels.

"Roy gave it to me. I have to hold on to it." she had said when Kim rubbed her temples in frustration.

The dress was freaking them out. The way the red flowed down her body...well, they couldn't help wonder if it really was red satin or...something else. They were keeping guard outside her room when Rosalind told them she was sleepy. They'd been pacing from that time onwards.

Kim suddenly stopped pacing as she saw Cho standing in front of the door in his usual rigid posture. She struck up a conversation.

"Cho, what do you think?" she asked. "Rosalind...does she truly believe that Roy Tagliaferro exists and he loves her?"

Cho quietly looked at Kim for a moment and then spoke. "Yes, she does."

She looked a little surprised. "Couldn't it be an act?"

"No, it's not an act, I'm sure of it."

"How do you know?"

He looked right into her eyes. "I see the way she talks about him." he quietly said. "Even though she's a blind woman, I see the way she glows whenever his name is mentioned; as if he were a dream come true. She treats him like he's something her whole world revolves around. She treats him like his universe. She cares about him more than she does about anything else, she loves him."

She was _very_ surprised now. She never thought Cho could be capable of saying something intense like that. "Well, how do _you_ know what the feeling is like; loving someone?"

When he kept looking at her again and this time, Kim thought she saw his soften just a tiny little bit.

"Because a long time ago, I've loved someone too;" he said. "Loved her enough to let her go. I know what it's like, thinking about someone you love; especially if that someone wasn't anywhere near you. If you ask Jane, he'll tell you he knows the feeling too."

Kim widened her eyes in shock. _Kimball Cho_ in _love_? It was beyond impossible for her to imagine that.

"You were in love?" she asked.

Cho nodded.

"I don't believe it." she whispered to herself.

Cho's lips pulled up at the corners. "I know I don't look like the type." he said. "But I have fallen in love with someone in my life. We all have, haven't we, Kim?"

Kim slowly nodded with pain in her heart; but she didn't want to talk about her love life right now.

"You want to...I don't know...talk about it?" she asked tentatively.

Cho looked at her thoughtfully for a moment. "Okay." he said, nodding. "I've never told this to anyone, so maybe it'll help."

Kim nodded as an idea struck her mind. "Wait here." she said, and went to the FBI kitchen.

She grabbed two folding chairs and carried them to where Cho was standing; in front of Rosalind's door. She dashed back and grabbed a small portable table and set it between the two chairs. Cho stared questioningly at her but she took no notice of him. She ran back to the kitchen and opened the fridge. She grabbed a bottle of wine and two wine glasses from the cupboard. She dashed back to Cho, sat in one of the chairs and set the wine and the glasses on the table. She opened the bottle, poured wine into the glasses and motioned Cho to sit down.

"Let's talk about it." she said, directly looking at his dark eyes.

Rigsby and Van Pelt drove through the blossom gardens to Dana Martins' house.

The day became much hotter. The sun was shining through the car windshields, beating the AC and making it blistering hot. Sweat rolled down their foreheads and necks into their backs. It was also very humid; not the typical dry heat of Texas. The trees looked much greener than they usually did and the flowers looked more colorful than ever. So there was actually a reward for tolerating the scorching heat.

They reached Dana's house by noon. She'd done them a favor by moving into Texas from California; they'd be on a plane right now if she hadn't moved. She lived in a nice villa now; with a pavilion and swimming pool at the back. It was a brownstone villa. There was a beautiful garden at the front with a fountain in the middle. It all looked very clean and organized.

"Woman's done her fair share of spending." said Rigsby in awe.

Van Pelt quietly chuckled and walked up the porch to the front door with Rigsby's hand in hers. They ringed the bell twice and waited for a minute or two. The lock opened from the inside and Dana Martins stepped out in a blue nightgown with a glass of wine in hand.

She looked at them for a few seconds, processing them and then frowned. "What are you guys doing here?" she demanded. "This isn't California."

"We're FBI now, ma'am." said Van Pelt, holding up her badge. "We need to talk to you about something, it's very important."

"Just my luck." she muttered under her breath. "Come on in." she said.

They walked into the living room, which looked just as homey as the exterior. It was beige themed. The curtains, sofa's walls, floor, furniture; everything was beige, peach, cream or brown colored. They sat on the striped sofas facing the TV and the windows to the garden.

"So what's this about?" she asked, annoyed.

"We have a case." said Rigsby. "And it looks like your daughters Lorelei and Miranda were involved."

She flinched a little at Miranda's name. They knew how she sold Miranda to a couple many years ago when she was just two. It was a touchy topic for her.

"And?" she demanded.

"We came by this photo through the case." said Van Pelt, giving her the picture Rosalind gave them. "Can you explain who they are? Because it seems to me you never mentioned them before."

Dana squinted at the photo and then widened her eyes in recognition; but then she regained herself and looked Van Pelt in the eye. "I do not know these men." she said tightly.

Van Pelt sighed deeply and took the photo from Dana's hands. She tiredly stared into her eyes. "Dana," she yawned. "I could take you to FBI headquarters right now for questioning. If we find out you know more than you tell us, you'll be sent to prison for obstruction of justice. Our agents are already researching the photo. If they find out anything..." her eyes bores into Dana's, "...you know you're in a whole lot of trouble."

Dana looked at her with a shocked expression. Then she looked guiltily around and started talking. "Those are my brothers." she said, a little miffed. "Mancino and Morgan Tyler."

"There was nothing in your file about relatives." said Rigsby.

"Yeah because they disappeared." she said. "Both disappeared nine years ago and went their own way; I don't know where they've been since."

"Why didn't you report the disappearance?" asked Van Pelt.

"Ha!" she snorted. Then her eyes started to swim in anger. "I did tell the police. I told you FBI guys about it, you didn't give a damn to what I said." she snarled. "I just got rid of my drugs and I was under medication so you guys thought I was crazy; you kicked me out of the building." she shouted.

Rigsby and Van Pelt were very shocked. If what Dana said turned out to be true...well, as much as they didn't like her, they'd be ashamed of themselves.

"Well, why didn't you mention your brothers the last time we talked?" she asked.

"What was the point?" Dana whispered. "They told me they hated me just because I was following my parents' will of getting sixty percent of the property after they died. They abandoned me and left me alone even after so much I'd done for them. I went to report them missing even after everything they've done to me." she looked up at Van Pelt with teary eyes. "They're my brothers, I love them."

Suddenly, Grace felt a wave of sympathy for this woman. No wonder she turned out to be so...wrong. She could tell that Rigsby was feeling the same way.

"Your brother, Mancino..." Van Pelt slowly said. "...in the database his last name was Ruby, not Tyler."

"Mancino thought it sounded better that way. He was joining a gang." she said. She then slowly took the photo from Grace's hands and stared at it with a tiny smile on her face. "This photo..." she whispered. "This photo was taken when Miranda came to visit Lorelei the third time." She looked up at Van Pelt. "Back then, my world was still under control. For a few days, I'd be happy, watching my brothers play with the girls. Miranda and Lorelei forgave me and my brothers became less hostile with me." she choked back a sob. "I don't know what went wrong." she whispered. "One minute, I'm watching my family happy and I'm relieved of my troubles and the next..." Fresh tears welled down her eyes. "Miranda was killed, Lorelei left me and my brothers disappeared. Perhaps," she choked "Perhaps this is my punishment for every wrong thing I've ever done. And I would give anything, _anything,_ to tell the girls how sorry I am; to tell the boys how sorry I am."

She cried silently as Rigsby and Van Pelt stared at her. They should have never blamed her for turning out the way she did. The pain she suffered, the misery she endured...it would drive anyone crazy. Jane was a perfect example of that. How could they have been so careless?

"Dana..." Grace murmured.

She looked up from her tears at Grace.

"Your brothers, they..." she took a deep breath, calming herself. "Your brother are dead, they've been killed."

"What?" whispered Dana. "What?" she choked and sobbed. "Oh m-my God. Oh my G-God." she looked at Van Pelt with red and puffy eyes. "Who?" she whispered.

"The same man who killed Miranda and Lorelei," she answered softly "Red John."

She sobbed harder than ever. Cried so much she didn't sound human anymore. She put her face in her hands and cried as hard as she could.

"But you're wrong." said Van Pelt. "Your brothers did forgive you."

She took something out of her pocket as Dana raised her head. It was a locket; a small, golden, heart-shaped locket. Rigsby also took something out of his jacket pocket. It was a bracelet; silver with circular charms around. A rather large charm was set at the front. They gave the locket and the bracelet to Dana.

She opened the locket and found two pictures inside. One was a picture of Mancino, Morgan and Dana, with laughter on their faces. The other was only of Dana's face, wearing a large hat and standing in a vineyard. She closed her eyes and smiled through tears, kissing the locket once. She wore it and moved on to the bracelet. There was a latch on the big charm and she opened it, revealing two photos inside of that as well. One photo was of the whole family together; Miranda, Lorelei, Dana, Mancino and Morgan with smiles on their faces. The other was of Dana and Mancino; smiling as they stood side by side in the moonlight. She sobbed a little and put it inside her tight little fist. "I love you so much." she whispered against her fist.

Van Pelt took two envelopes and two diaries out of her bag and handed them to Dana. "They wrote you letters," she said "And they kept a diary about you. So, in the end...they left forgiving you; missing you." Grace nodded towards Dana.

She took the diary first and slowly opened it. She started reading the first page. After a minute or two, she was smiling instead of crying.

Just then Rigsby got a text message on his phone from Wylie, telling them to come to the HQ. Rigsby glanced at Dana, who was starting to chuckle now and then. He took Grace's hand and slowly led her out of the house, not making any sound at all. Once they crossed the porch, they walked at a normal pace.

"Wylie told us to come?" asked Grace as they got into the car.

"Yeah." said Rigsby, starting the engine.

They drove to the FBI, letting the happiness they left and witnessed behind them be.

The wine bottle was empty now. Cho was idling on the chair and so was Fischer, they were so drunk. Fischer took caffeine pills from her pocket and handed one to Cho. She took one for herself and swallowed them whole. They were already starting to feel a little alert.

"So what happened then?" she asked. "After Summer got released?"

Cho's voice broke a little when he answered. "She found a guy who wanted to marry her. Must've been good for her; he wanted to marry her even after he knew she was pregnant. So I let her go."

"Why didn't you do it? Marry her, I mean?"

Cho looked at her with a grave expression. "I could never make her happy." he answered. "I was making her miserable and she still tried to keep quiet about it. I couldn't give her what she wanted and I wanted her to be happy. How could she ever be happy if she couldn't get what she wanted? If another man really could make her happy, I agreed to give her away. I loved her that much to let her go. I owed her that."

She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Have you ever thought about...I don't know...moving on? Like Jane?"

"I thought about it." he said. "And when I saw how happy Jane was after he moved on, I thought about it a lot more. It didn't seem like it would hurt. I would've said yes in a blink, but..."

Fischer waited. "But?"

"I don't know if anyone would want to move on with me, you know." he murmured. "I don't know if I'm ready yet. As wrong as the man I am, I still think I deserve some happiness. But if I have to feed off the happiness of other people, I don't think I can do that."

They didn't speak for a minute or two. "It was nice getting to know you, Kimball." said Fischer finally. "Thank you for letting me in."

"It was nice talking about it." He answered. "I didn't think that talking would help but it turns out that it did. And I just want to say thank you," he paused and smiled at her "For listening to me."

"You're welcome." she said, smiling back.

Just then there was a loud thrash in Rosalind's room. Horrified, they both bolted up their chairs and ran to the door, causing the furniture to topple over and break the bottle and glasses. Cho broke the door open and they went in, guns raised. They scanned the room once and Rosalind was nowhere to be seen. The window was open and Cho peered down; there was nothing at all.

"Call Jane and let him know; I'll search the room." said Cho, walking over to the bathroom.

Kim snatched the telephone from the bed table and dialed Jane's number. She was greeted by a voice message.

" _Hi, this is Patrick Jane. Please leave a message because I can't take your call right now. I'll call you the first chance I get._ " There was a beep and Fischer started speaking.

"Jane," she said. "You have to get in here right now. We lost her." she rushed down the stairs to Wylie and Vega's desks. "We lost Rosalind."

 **A/N: Another chapter finished! Oh, by the way, PLEASE tell me through reviews if you want Cho and Fischer to be together. And please leave reviews! It means a lot to me. This time it not(ish) a cliffhanger. Thank you all so much again for supporting me throughout this story. I couldn't have appreciated the help and support more. Love you guys. See you again next chapter!**


	26. So close it's bleeding

**A/N: Thank you all again so much for the reviews and suggestions. I agree I never really saw Cho and Kim together. Sorry for the delay! I got the flue yesterday and it was bad as heck. I still have it but it's better now.**

Jane paced through the parking lot as Forensics brought in the bodies from upstairs. Abbott was interrogating local authorities nearby and the guard was taken in for questioning. P.D. told Jane that he was allowed to leave only after the situation was taken care of. He was already becoming miffed for staying two hours in a crime scene. Especially in a crime scene with so much horror and tragedy burned into the walls.

How could someone be so heartless? So merciless that he could throw girls' naked and abused bodies haphazardly across a room? Not to mention the fact that they were sickeningly cut and their blood was dripping from the walls of the room? Was it possible to be so barbaric: so inhuman?

Jane got a voice message in his cell and he took it out from his pocket. He wondered what bad news awaited him. He was shocked after he heard the message. But not overwhelmed.

Red John took Rosalind. That wasn't such a blow to the face. Jane was almost expecting this to happen. His only terror was not knowing if she was dead or alive.

He explained his situation to Sherriff James and he let Jane go. Jane quickly crossed the parking lot into the evening sky as his car awaited him. He left Abbott a text message to explain; and hit the road for HQ.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rigsby and Van Pelt were walking side by side until she stood in front of him. "Wayne, seriously." she said. "I don't need to go to the hospital, I'm fine. We have to work the case."

"Well, that's not fair." Rigsby accused her. "You told me you wanted to get out of the hospital because you wanted to crack that code for the audio file. You also promised that you would be back in bed after you cracked it. And despite my protesting I took you to see Dana Martins."

"But I didn't crack the code, did I? Jane did." she mumbled.

"That's my point." he stated. "The job's taken care of. Why are you still trying to work? You never back up on promises."

"I know." she sighed; and then her expression turned soft. "Wayne, I can't stay out here while I know everyone's working to fin Lisbon. I have to chip in, too. I can't relax when I know Lisbon's out there; waiting for us to save her. Do you know what I mean?"

He sighed. "I know." he caved in. "I know that we have to work hard to find Lisbon. We all want her back, you know that. She's our friend; we have to help her, I get that. But how are you going to focus on work if you're not well enough to do it?"

"I'm fine."

"You have bruised cheeks, forehead and elbows. Your face is covered with a bunch of cuts. Ligaments are torn in your hands and legs. And your skull and ribs are smashed pretty good." he whispered painfully. "You're fine, Grace?"

She looked guilty for a moment, trying to conceal her wincing because of the physical pain she was going through.

"Besides, Lisbon wouldn't want this." he said. "She would ask for help, sure; but she'd never want you to work while you're in such a critical condition. Respect that, at least."

She groaned. "Fine, be that way."

She frowned and took off towards the hospital's entrance with Rigsby chuckling at her heels.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Cho and Fischer were still searching the room, even after Forensics insisted that they didn't need to. Nothing was found, there was no clue; spotless as usual when it came to Red John. Fischer looked behind the bed for the fourth time, hoping she'll find something. She was disappointed again. Cho was talking to Forensics and PD, giving a report on what he heard. They finally gave up; and so Cho and Fischer made their way to the elevator.

"What do you think happened?" asked Fischer. "No one can just disappear like that."

"No, there must've been some way she escaped." said Cho.

"But _how_? We couldn't find anything in her room at all. And something crashed in her room right? Well everything's in perfect order. We entered the room approximately ten seconds after we heard the crash; that's not enough time cleaning up everything _and_ disappearing."

"No idea how that happened. But something did; and we're going to find out what."

Fischer nodded in response and the two of them rode down the elevator in silence.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Wylie was looking at all the security cameras under surveillance in the FBI. He couldn't see Rosalind in any one of the footages. He couldn't make sense out of what just happened. How did Rosalind just disappear? No one caught sight of her at all.

Vega was making coffee and Wylie saw her come back from the break room. She put two coffee mugs down on the table and pressed her lips once against Wylie's. "Did you find anything?" she asked, looking up at him.

"None of the cameras see her." he sighed.

"But what we found was today was more helpful than anything, right? Lisbon will be back soon." she said, patting his cheek.

Wylie caught her hand and pressed it against his cheek. "She sure will."

Wylie dropped her hand and sat with her near his desk. They talked about the case until they heard the elevator ping and saw Fischer and Cho coming out. At the same time; Abbott, Jane and Rigsby climbed up the staircases to the bullpen.

"Nice timing guys." appraised Vega as they all sat down near Wylie's desk.

"What did you find?" asked Rigsby.

"Something useful." Vega scanned the room once and looked at Rigsby. "Where's Van Pelt?"

"She's in the hospital-I got her admitted."

"That's good. Okay so we did some digging and you guys probably know that Ruby and Tyler are Dana Martins' brothers." said Wylie.

They nodded in unison.

"Well, I did some digging on property." he said. "I tried to see if they owned any property; real estate, cabins, farmhouses. Well sure enough, they have a Victorian themed palace farmhouse just southwest of Texas. That house was supposed to be unoccupied for seven years, I checked its properties. Yet, three days ago, locals reported that they saw evidence of the house being occupied.

Jane's eyes were widening in comprehension.

"Yeah," said Vega. "Our guess is that's were Lisbon's being held."

Wylie could almost immediately see the longing and hunger in Jane's eyes and above all, rage. They couldn't even imagine feeling his misery and pain.

"I tracked the address from where that audio was sent; it leads to the farmhouse. Lisbon's cell finally got a hit; it's at the farmhouse. In the audio, the background noises were of trains and construction sites. There's a bridge being constructed near the farmhouse; and train tracks surround the area. There are no more buildings within a ten mile radius of that farmhouse."

Everyone gasped in joy.

"Lisbon..." Jane whispered. "Lisbon's there."

"Yes, she is." moaned Fischer.

"We need to go there right now." said Rigsby excitedly.

"No." ordered Abbott. "It's Red John we're dealing with right now. We need to prepare and bring every muscle we have to the wheel. It's almost nightfall." He motioned towards the dark sky through the window. "We don't have time to prepare now. The other agents are working on other things now and hopefully they'll sort it out by tomorrow morning. We'll get them armed and then we'll go."

"No, Abbott!" screeched Jane, getting up from his chair. "We have to go there right now. How could you delay the plan? When we're so close? I can feel it close to us Abbott, we have to grasp the chance while it's still there!"

"Jane, I understand how you feel but-"

"No, Dennis, you don't understand how I feel." he growled. But then his voice softened with pain. "Lisbon's in there, Abbott. I can't...I don't know if I'm going to tolerate this pain anymore...I don't..." he looked up at Abbott with teary eyes. "We have to help her. She's in there, Abbott...I just..." his pain robbed him of speech.

"Jane if you think I don't know how you feel then you're wrong." said Abbott. "I do know how you feel and that's the reason I'm doing this." When Jane started to speak, he silenced him with his hand. "Look at it this way." he said. "It's late at night. The agents are tired and frustrated. We haven't prepared anything yet. Do you think we'll get Lisbon alive out of there if all the heads are not correctly in the game?"

Jane looked at him thoughtfully for a moment. That thought didn't cross his mind. Rigsby patted his shoulder. "He's right, you know that." he said. Everyone nodded at Jane.

He sighed deeply. "Fine then." he said. "We'll go tomorrow."

"Okay." said Abbott, smiling. "We have to plan ahead; I don't want further delays tomorrow."

Everyone nodded.

"I will be there with you when we get into that house." said Jane. "Promise me that, Abbott."

Abbott looked at him with a soft expression. "I promise."

Jane nodded tightly once and eased back into his chair.

"Alright then." continued Abbott. "We have two hundred agents employed in the FBI, right?"

"That's right, sir." said Cho.

"We'll need at least fifty of them."

"I'll ask the bosses about getting them to volunteer." said Fischer.

"Do that." he confirmed. "Seven will go in through the back door and seven through the front. Five to the left side of the house and five to the right. Seven will go to the basement and the remaining ten will go through the roof and balcony, splitting equally. Five will block the exits and entrances. Four will guard the perimeter. We'll take it from there."

They all nodded.

"Wylie and Van Pelt are not in condition for arms and guns." said Abbott. "They'll keep surveillance; tell us if anything's wrong."

"Wait." Wylie suddenly growled. Everyone stared at him in surprise.

"Is she going in there?" demanded Wylie, pointing at Vega.

"Yeah, of course." said Abbott blankly. "We need her."

Wylie didn't have to think it through. "She's not going in that house; I won't let her."

Vega stared at him in surprise. "Jason?" she asked, putting her hand on his shoulder.

Wylie wrapped an arm around her waist. "You're not going in that house." he told her.

"Is it your job to make decisions for her?" asked Rigsby, raising his eyebrows.

"It's my job to keep her safe; which she won't be if she gets in that house." he growled.

Vega stared at him, dumbstruck. "Jason, I..."

"You're not going, that's it." he said sharply.

"Just calm down and think about it for a moment, Wylie." said Abbott, soothingly.

"No." he said, keeping Vega's body tightly to his side in protectiveness.

"He has a point, Abbott." Jane said quietly. "You know what happened the last time I said that."

Abbott frowned at the memory.

"She's not going." said Wylie.

Vega didn't know what to say.

"Take the night off, both of you." he said. "Tell me what you decide tomorrow."

"I already told you my decision." Wylie snarled.

"Sleep on it, regardless." said Abbott. "See if you change your mind."

Wylie thought about it for a minute. "Fine." he said curtly. "Good night."

He took Vega by her hand and led her out of the FBI bullpen, stares boring into his back from behind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jane went to the break room to make some tea. He could hardly keep the tears off his eyes and the smile off his face.

Lisbon; she was so close to him. He could feel her near him, calling out to him. She was so close he could almost hear her voice, touch her face, and tell her everything was okay. Joy maid his heart ache. When he got her he won't leave her alone, ever again. It was a promise he'll keep this time.

Red John left easy clues so that Jane could find him. He wanted this. Red John wasn't after anybody but Jane. And he made Pike a sweet deal that he could have Lisbon on the way.

Little did foolish Pike know that Red John never keeps promises.

Red John wanted Lisbon dead too. He wanted Jane to suffer beyond measure. Pike would want to kill Red John and Red John would kill him on the spot.

That wasn't going to happen, though. He'll save Lisbon, kill Pike and Red John and get over with his misery.

He thought about the time when Lisbon told him that he was not going to lose her. It seemed like ages and ages ago.

What would happen with Wylie and Vega? He'd thought the exact same thing when Lisbon was going into that house full of criminals. Would Vega tell him to back off? Would Wylie listen?

He hoped he wouldn't listen. Love was something life hardly ever gave you. And when it did, misery was sure to be on its way. First with Angela...it happened because he never deserved her; never listened to her and left her alone. Then with Lisbon...it happened because he got careless; his insecurities and foolishness got her the situation she was in. For what happened with Angela and Lisbon, it was his entire fault; and he acknowledged that.

He heard footsteps behind him when the water was boiling. Without turning around, he could tell that it was Fischer.

"Hey, Kim." he said, without turning around.

"Hey, yourself." she said, leaning against the counter.

"You didn't go home yet?"

"I thought that was my line." she mocked.

"Let's reverse the script today, then." he grinned.

"I didn't feel like leaving." she said. "It's beautiful outside and...I needed someone to talk to."

"Would that someone be me?"

"I guess." she said and looked at his tea pot. "Don't you ever get rid of that thing?"

"What, tea?" he asked, feigning horror. "My world revolves around this thing, I just can't lose it!"

She laughed airily; it sounded beautiful and bright. It made Jane smile to see her happy,

"You said it's beautiful out there, tonight?"

"Yeah,"

"Let's talk then." he said, teacup in hand.

They made their way up the elevator to the roof of the building. As they stepped up the ridge, Jane was mesmerized. It really was beautiful; the sky was a dark navy clue color. It was scattered with stars and the black clouds were drifting here to there, strewn across the night sky. It was a little cold. Kim leaned against the railing and stared up at the sky.

"For the past eight years I've been coming up here at night." she told Jane. "Just to forget about the world for a little while and...live in a dream for the moment. Sometimes when life got hard and unfair, I came here to forget about it. Being alone helps me get rid of my pain even more, so I'd stay up here alone."

"Well," he paused. "There's nothing wrong with dream worlds."

She turned around to look at him. "That's what you told me when we-"

"First met, yeah." he finished. "I remember,"

"Yeah," she whispered.

"It really is beautiful up here at night." he said, looking up at the sky.

"What?" she asked, following his gaze. "Oh," she realized. "Oh yeah, um, right." she said. "It really is beautiful."

They were quiet for a minute.

"You know, you are very different from what I met six years ago." Fischer mocked.

"And so are you," he said.

"I cannot believe that was you." She laughed. "If you behaved that way for the past six years, you wouldn't be such a pain in my ass."

"Really?" he mocked.

"Absolutely,"

They stared at the stars for a very long time, Jane sipping his tea. Finally Fischer spoke,

"Look, I..." she took a deep breath. "I got a weird confession to make."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"Remember when I told you that I'm never going to fall in love with someone?"

"I told you that you were wrong; every girl falls in love."

"Well..." she exhaled, looking at her feet. "You were right."

He sucked in a sharp breath. "No way,"

"Yeah, it doesn't look like it, but it's true."

"Who is it? Don't tell me it's Agent O'Connor. He always had a thing for you."

She looked very guilty when he said that.

"Oh, shoot." he muttered. "You _are_ in love with Agent Mysterious."

"His name is _not_ Mysterious!" she laughed.

"Pacing in front of the refrigerator and poking in it, looking like he's trying to put something mysterious in it and nobody finding it when they try to investigate makes him mysterious."

She laughed again.

"How long has this been going on?"

"A month,"

"You managed to hide it from me for a _month_?" he gasped.

"Yup," she said happily.

"I don't believe it." he said, feigning shame.

She beamed at him.

"Well," he said, staring at her dark eyes. "He's a great guy, Kim. I'm happy for you."

She met his gaze and her expression softened. "Thank you."

"So, how did you get moved by the guy?"

"He...asked me on a date first." she said.

" _You said yes to a date!_ " he gasped.

"Yeah!" she said, laughing.

"You are a completely different woman now, Kim Fischer!"

"Yeah, right." she said skeptically.

"I'm serious."

She grinned at him and continued. "So he told me what he felt about me and...I didn't _love_ him. It was kind of like a crush. He was, you know, nice; good looking, funny, supportive of female power." she laughed again. "So I told him that I didn't actually feel that way yet, but that we could work on it. I told him that I _really_ liked him; as I said, like a crush. He seemed really happy at my answer and he agreed on working our way on something stronger than 'like'. We started going out since." she paused. "I'm sure about how I feel yet."

"Wow," Jane murmured, dazed.

"I know, I know, it's not like me," she said. "But I'll work my way through it."

"Does the team know?"

"I...plan on breaking the news to them soon. I figured you could keep a secret and I needed someone to talk to about it and...Well, here I am."

"If this ever turns serious, keep him with you forever." he said painfully. "Love is not a walk in the park and it's not so easy to get."

"I know." she murmured. "I know."

Jane checked his watch. It was half past two.

"I got to get going. Annie's waiting and I probably should have gone sooner."

"No, it's okay. I understand." she assured. "It was nice talking to you."

"And you too,"

"Thanks,"

He looked up at the stars again. "You're staying here?"

"Yeah,"

"Okay, then." he smiled. "Good night, Kim."

She smiled back. "Good night, Jane."

Kim returned her gaze to the stars. As Jane walked out the door, he looked back at her. "Fischer?"

She turned around. "Yeah?"

"Being alone feels nice when you're thinking about a beautiful dream." he said. "It's not something good when you're out here in the real world." He motioned around him.

She looked thoughtfully at him for a moment. "I'll keep that in mind." she said as Jane smiled and walked away. "And Jane?" she called out to him.

He turned around. "Yes?"

"Thanks," she said guiltily.

"Anytime," he said and walked away to the elevators in the dark, leaving a smiling Fischer gazing at the starry skies behind.

 **A/N: I finished another chapter! Can you feel how close we are to the end? I hope I'll be well enough to post another chapter tomorrow. Please leave reviews and share this chapter with your friends. I love you guys. See you next chapter!**

 **PS: No cliffhanger this time!**


	27. Close as the cold moon

**A/N: Sorry I was late again. My flue turned into a freaking viral fever and now my mom has it. Regardless I tried to write a good story for you. Thank you all again so much for your love and continued support. I couldn't have done it without you. Thanks to Guest, queen45 and ashesfan0810 for lovely reviews. Thank you so much.**

Abbott was waiting for everybody near the elevators.

His watch told him it was seven thirty am. Yesterday at eight, Fischer got 50 FBI personnel to volunteer for the search, as promised. At nine, Abbott sent instructions through text messages to all of them: where to meet and what to do. This morning at five, the agents started to come in through the doors. The FBI was a very noisy place after that. The weapons room was crowded and so was the surveillance room. They loaded the surveillance van down from the garage and fuelled it up. People were quickly putting on bulletproof vests and loading their arms. The FBI was buzzing with energy, but more than that, a dark mist of fear hung through the walls. They had said goodbye to their families if it was going to be their last encounter with them; they did not know if they would come back alive.

The elevator pinged and Jane, Cho, Fischer, Grace, Rigsby, Wylie and Vega stepped out. Wylie's lips were pressed into a very tight line as he walked with quick, jerky movements. Grace was in Rigsby's arms; a plaster covering both of her legs. Vega was very quiet while she stood by Wylie's side. Cho's and Fischer's faces were neutral. Jane looked empty and hollow.

Though each of them was wearing a different mask from the others, they all had one thing in common; fear. Fear was lurking behind their eyes and they tried to hide it, unsuccessfully.

"About time you guys came," said Abbott. He looked at Wylie. "Thought you said she wasn't coming?"

"She magically changed my mind, like she always does." he scoffed.

Vega was starting to smile.

"Rigsby, what happened?" he asked, motioning towards Van Pelt.

Rigsby glared accusingly at Van Pelt, who looked guilty. "Her knee sprains worsened by yesterday's movements and all the wheel chairs got busted in the hospital by the janitor."

"Come on, you guys, let's get you armed." Abbott looked at Jane. "Including you,"

"Me?" he asked, stunned. "But I-"

"People like Red John don't deserve anything close to mercy," he said. "Not after what he did to you and the families of all the people he killed. Besides, if he fell into our hands, we were going to execute him, anyway. I'll tell authorities it was self-defense and you'll probably be in jail for three months. And then, as usual," he smiled. "I'm gonna bust my ass in the process of saving yours."

Jane opened his mouth to say something, nothing coming out. Finally he closed it and nodded slowly.

"Rigsby, get Van Pelt a rolling chair or wheelchair if you find one."

He carried Van Pelt to the southern side of the building.

Abbott looked at the others. "So you guys, let's head down to the garage. Vans are ready to go."

They all nodded and headed to the basement down the elevators. Ten vans were waiting for them, including the large surveillance van. Most of the agents were in and the vehicles were armored and loaded, but ten or so agents were still outside, discussing something and waiting for Abbott and the others. As soon as they saw Abbott, they nodded towards him and stepped into the vans.

At the same time, the elevator pinged and Rigsby stepped out of it with Grace in a wheelchair. "We all packed?" he asked.

"Yeah." said Abbott. "Get in the van, step on it."

Everyone got into the van. Grace's wheelchair was shoved in the back while Rigsby carried her into the van. Abbott gave the first car a thumbs-up sign from the window and it began moving with nine cars on its tail. Abbott and the others were in the third car.

They began crossing the city into the countryside. Thankfully there was no traffic jam today. The morning was unusually purple toned today. The eastern horizon was painted orange, red and pink; while the rest of the sky was purple. Rain was falling in a drizzle. There were silver patches of clouds across the purple sky. The countryside was greener than before, due to the rain. They passed fields and orchards to southwest Texas.

After a while they began to see empty fields with no houses in sight and that's when they got hit by a panic attack. Grace was shaking in fear and Vega flinched against Wylie's side. Fischer's breath became uneven. Cho was more composed than the others; Rigsby was tapping his feet anxiously and Jane looked pale with fear.

Fear; such a little word, but with such a harsh meaning it can knock you to your knees and whip you unconscious.

It was ten past nine when they saw the Victorian house in view. It looked too beautiful to be inhabited by a monster. It was beige and brown in color. A beautiful green garden stretched into view. They could see the entrance door and their pulses quickened. The cars stopped behind the walls surrounding the property. The walls were ten feet high and they could not be easy seen.

Everyone got down from the car and went to a small banyan tree around the corner, well hidden from the house. They started planning once they were there.

"Okay, guys, listen up." said Wylie, taking a neatly folded printout out of his pocket. "This is the plan of the entire manor." He spread the printout on the base of the tree, displaying the map of a house's interior.

"So as planned yesterday, fourteen of us will go in through the back and front door, dividing equally. Ten of the remainder will split equally and go through the left and right parts of the house. Seven into the basement, five on the balcony and five on the roof. Five of you will block the exits and entrances and four will sweep and guard the perimeter. There are twenty five rooms in total in the house," he said, showing them their positions on the printout. "There will be two agents in each room. The surveillance van will be outside the border the four agents will mark so that no harm comes to it or Agent Van Pelt. Abbott will hand me a gun and I will shoot if necessary. Do not shoot to kill unless it is absolutely necessary. If it's Red John, then shoot him to death. If you reach Lisbon, retrieve her first cause that's our number one priority. These are Agent Abbott's orders and you will carry them out. Is that understood?"

They all nodded.

"Okay boys," said Abbott, a rifle in hand. "It's show time."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They carried out the instructions as efficiently as possible. Agents were surrounding the whole manor and did as they were instructed. Cho, Fischer, Vega, Abbott, Rigsby, Jane and O'Connor took the front door. The interior was nice, but they didn't have time to look. They all split equally in the rooms as they were told to do. Kim was paired up with O'Connor, Jane with Abbott, Cho with Vega and Rigsby with Agent Donald. Kim took over the kitchen, Abbott the living room, Cho the dining room and Rigsby the bathroom. They began sweeping the perimeter.

Jane was sweeping the living room with a gun in hand, Abbott with him. They found nothing there, so they decided to wait if danger was near. All the agents had earpieces to communicate with each other and the surveillance van.

"I saw evidence of an anonymous in the balcony me and Agent Riley are in charge of." said Agent Sutton. Everyone could hear them in their earpieces. "We're going in, request for backup."

"We're on it." came Agent Stewart's voice. "Me and Jana will be there in two minutes."

Jane was checking the walls when he saw someone-definitely not an agent-wandering about with gun in hand. By 9:56 a.m. the whole sky outside had gone black-signs of a storm- and no one could see anything clearly. Jane couldn't make out the face of the stranger.

"Abbott." Jane whispered.

Abbott turned around and his eyes widened a little bit. "Kim, a stranger's headed your way. Take care of it." he spoke into the microphone.

"Got it," came O'Connor's voice. For a minute, the others could only hear Agent Sutton and O'Connor's uneven breathing.

And the next, they heard gunshots, Jana and Fischer's agonized scream.

"What happened?" many voices exclaimed at once.

"I've been hit." groaned Kim. "Anonymous heading towards bathroom." Sounds of struggle and fighting were in the background.

"Me too," came the pained, feminine voice of Jana. "Someone's going to the roof." Someone was gasping and grunting in the background.

"Stay there, we're coming in." said Abbott. "There's nothing in the living room."

As they moved to the kitchen, they could hear ten or so gunshots and the tortured scream of many other agents.

Suddenly the whole place was in an uproar. All of them could only hear these things in the background; screams, grunts, growls, gunshots, gasps, crashing, breaking and hitting. They could hear each other's uneven breathing because they were running as hard as they could from here to there. They all scattered from their positions.

Jane ran into the kitchen as Abbott ran to the balcony. Kin was lying on the floor in a puddle of her own blood. Jane fell beside her and checked her pulse. It was staggered.

"Wylie, you see anything? Tell everyone!" he urged into his mouthpiece.

"Okay, um, there are two strangers in the bedroom, three in the bathroom, five in the basement and one in the kitchen." Wylie voice trembled when he spoke again. "Right behind you, Jane,"

Jane slowly turned around and saw a man standing behind him with a knife raised in the darkness. Jane shot him in the arm as he was about to stab him. He watched as the man gasped and fell from his stance. He was wearing black pantsuits and a mask. Jane ripped the mask off and exposed a blond man he didn't recognize. He punched his face and thrashed him against the ground.

"Where is Lisbon, you son of a bitch?" he growled. " _Where is she?!"_

The man simply laughed menacingly in response and fell unconscious.

"Damn it!" Jane cursed but went to treat Kim.

"Shh, it's alright. You're gonna be okay." he said, patting her cheek.

Fischer didn't say anything as Jane took a handkerchief out of his pocket and wrapped a tight tourniquet around her calf where she'd been shot.

"Jane, did you kill him?" came Cho's voice in the earpiece.

"No, I shot his arm. He's out."

Cho was grunting and shooting as he answered. "Sit tight, someone will come and get you."

The place sounded like a shooting range. Jane couldn't hear anything except for the gunshots. He thought his eardrums would burst, it was so loud.

"Jane you have to leave me here." whispered Kim. "You have to look for Lisbon."

"I can't leave you alone here." he said.

"You have to," she said more fiercely. "This is your fight, Jane, not ours. We can't fight for you. Lisbon's depending on you and so are we. Just go,"

"But I can't just leave-"

"Jane, if you lose her, you're never gonna get another chance again. Another chance at life," her voice softened. "Being alone feels nice in dreams, but not out here in the real world."

Jane didn't know what to say. He was torn between listening to her and staying with her.

"Just go, Jane." she urged.

He half stood, hesitating. "I-"

"Go!"

"What's going on up there?" asked Rigsby in the earpiece while was running to the kitchen.

Kim smiled. "Just helping a man get his wife back,"

Jane felt unsure, but finally he beamed at Fischer and ran out of the kitchen, just as Rigsby was coming in.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Seven were scattered around the house, trying to treat the wounded agents. Vega was one of them. She never ever saw so many agents wounded in one place. She communicated with Wylie, repeatedly and unsuccessfully soothing him that she was fine. He was getting paranoid. But that didn't distract Vega from treating the wounded.

She was doing whatever she could to help. At least fifteen agents were brutally wounded. Twenty eight agents were still standing, and they were looking for Red John and Lisbon. Luck didn't turn out yet. It was raining wildly outside, the skies black as fallen ice. Vega made her way to the kitchen and saw Fischer and Rigsby.

She ran to Kim's side and put a pillow under her head. Her pulse was steadier after she'd given her the morphine and the medicine. Cho and Abbott were shot too. It was just flesh wounds. But four of fifteen people were critically hurt. Agent Smith received a blow to the head and so did Agent Sutton. Peter was stabbed in the gut. And Rosetta got the most critical one of all; a bullet grazing her head. They weren't going to survive. Even the hospital can't save them. The other agents were preparing themselves for a terrible loss.

Vega ran her fingers down Kim's hair as Rigsby was securing the room, shooting any strangers he saw in sight. Many, many gunshots could still be heard over the roar of the wind and rain outside but thankfully, nobody got hurt.

Kim was still unconscious from the pain. Vega didn't wake her up. The bullet only grazed her calf so it wasn't too serious. Vega looked over at Rigsby and saw him closing the doors of the kitchen and lock it.

"Where's Jane?" she asked him.

"Jane!" Rigsby called into his microphone.

"I'm okay." said Jane. "I'm here. I'll shout if I need your help."

"Okay," said Vega into her microphone.

They could hear more gunshots outside and Rigsby bolted open the door, guns raised. He started shooting anyone suspicious. "I can't believe they still didn't find Lisbon. Or Red John for that matter," he told Vega.

Kim was fast asleep now, and Vega slowly rose from the ground –careful not to wake her-and went to Rigsby's side with her gun raised.

"I'll help you." she said, shooting Red John's accomplices. "We'll get through this together."

Rigsby looked at her for a moment and nodded tightly, the both of them shooting at the enemy.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jane went alone to the basement. It was the only place where no one was looking for Red John or Lisbon. He wanted to call for backup but everyone was busy upstairs and he didn't want to disturb them. And so he went alone to find his love.

Lisbon was here; so close to him he could hardly believe it. He had to find her. Or he'd collapse in the pain he was suffering for eight long days.

He was wandering through the basement, comprehending his surroundings. The basement hadn't been clean for a very long time. There were cobwebs everywhere. The white lights were dim, so it wasn't easy to see. The walls were a faded light brown. The floor was cracked white tiles. His footsteps echoed across the room. There was furniture in there, all wooden and worn out from age. This house had been abandoned a long time ago by the looks of it. And still it looked like it was occupied. Currently, of course it was. But not by ordinary people but almost like...a ghost. Something inhuman and monstrous live down here, it seemed like; and of course, that was true also.

After walking a few more steps forward Jane saw something catch his eye. It was a light; a light peeking out from behind two red chairs. Burning with curiosity, he went forward to investigate, not bothering to call for backup. When he was near the chairs he raised his rifle, prepared for any unwelcome surprises. As he approached the chairs and found the coast clear, he saw that the light was coming from a trapdoor in the ground.

 _A basement inside a basement?_ He thought.

He put the rifle on the chair and bent forward to open it. As his hands touched the handle, there was noise behind. He whipped his head around, his hand automatically reaching for his rifle, only to find out it wasn't there.

He stood up and quickly looked around. There was no one in sight. Who could have taken his gun?

His thoughts stopped short when what could only be a gun pressed against the back of his head. He stood still as a statue, not daring to move.

"Hello, Jane." said Pike's voice behind him. "It's good to finally see you."

 **A/N: Another chapter gone! So close to the end we are. Sorry it's a cliffhanger, but that's the whole fun of it. Thank you all again for your help and tips. Please, please leave reviews, it really means a lot to me. What do you think happened next? Tell me your thoughts! Love you again. See you next chapter!**


	28. Taken

**Awkward,**

 **Very, very awkward,**

 **If you are still reading this, then you give me more patience than I really deserve. I won't even try to apologize to you guys.**

 **Okay second thoughts. If you still have the heart to forgive me, then please do.**

 **I just shifted my house, quizzes are going on, school is tougher, I'm in a new class, and my school life is messed up and...You know what? I'll just stop talking and let you decide if you'll forgive me.**

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Jane didn't dare to move a muscle-not even a fraction of a degree-when a gun was pressed to his forehead.

Pike was holding the rifle to his head. He had removed Jane's earpiece and had thrown it as far away from them as possible. He didn't say anything after that first sentence. Jane was going to turn around and snatch the rifle from his hands, but thinking it was too risky, he didn't do it.

After a minute or two, Pike spoke up. "How do you feel, huh, Jane?" he asked coldly. "Does it feel nice, knowing you're trapped? Knowing that any movement you make will kill you?"

"Oh, I'm not worried about killing myself." Jane calmly replied. "I'm just trying to figure out how I'm going to kill you."

"Oh, really?" Pike asked sarcastically. "Have you had any ideas yet?"

"Well," Jane continued "it won't really be fair for you if I didn't let you choose." He then asked with a dangerous edge to his voice. "Would you like to be beaten to death? Stabbed? Shot? Strangled? Blasted to pieces? I'll let you choose. But I really hope you choose the last one. That's the one I'd really enjoy doing."

Pike shoved the barrel of the gun to the back of Jane's head, harshly. "We'll take care of that matter, later." he snarled. "Now, walk."

He had opened the trapdoor earlier and he was pushing Jane towards it now. He did as instructed and let Pike guide him into the entrance. After all, that's where Lisbon might be.

She was waiting for him...Waiting for him to save her. But there was nothing he could do; absolutely nothing.

He climbed down the ladder with Pike behind him, the barrel of the rifle still pressed to his forehead. When his feet touched flat tiles, he looked around, trying to survey his surroundings. But it was so dark; he couldn't see anything at all. Pike shoved the gun onto Jane's back, instructing him to walk faster, and so he did.

"If it were up to me, your dead body would be rotting up in the basement." he growled. "But Red John gave me orders-he wanted you alive." he paused once. "You will die, and when you will, Lisbon would me mine forever, just the way she was supposed to be."

Jane pitifully told him "You don't know anything about Lisbon." he said. "You don't deserve her."

"Oh, yeah?" he asked angrily "Give me a reason why you do."

"I don't deserve her." he replied. "But I know her, and I know that she would hate you all her life if you kill me."

"Shut up!" Pike yelled. "You don't know anything about Teresa! Nothing at all, you lying-"

"I know her enough." he cut in. "You've hardly been with her for two months. I've been her partner for more than seventeen years. I know her enough to tell you that she'll hate you for killing me. She'll hate you for snatching her family away from her."

"Shut your mouth!" he shouted. "You're trying to manipulate me! Like you do with every sorry being in this world you come by! Even Lisbon was tricked by you! She'd never have chosen you if you didn't force her to; never!"

"I'm doing nothing but telling you the pure truth." he replied calmly. "Only weak minded people-like you- can be manipulated. Lisbon is anything but weak. She's the strongest woman I've ever known." his voice softened as he kept walking. "You've been with her for two months, but you know her well enough. Do you really think she would've wanted this? Wanted you to kill her family just because you want her?"

"I'm not weak minded!" he shouted at him. "Red John is not manipulating me; he's showing me the way. The only way to get Lisbon back! He promised me he'd spare her and kill you. He saw how miserable I was and he tried to help! Just like he always does."

Jane said nothing for a few seconds, but then he laughed. Laughed hysterically,

Pike beat him on the head with the gun barrel. "Why are you laughing, huh? Why are you laughing!?" he shouted.

"You seriously don't think Red John keeps promises do you?" he laughed. His voice turned very cold then. "Red John never ever keeps promises. And what he wants is the complete opposite." he snarled "He wants me alive because he wants me to watch Lisbon die. And he'll spare me, for drowning me in guilt for the rest of my life. Second, he never helps anyone and only uses people as pawns in his little games. Third, you are weak minded, because you listened to his plans and went his way like a psychopath, instead of doing some rational thinking on your own. Fourth, he is manipulating you. That's the whole reason you dance his moves and walk his steps only."

"That's enough." said Pike coldly. "That's enough!"

He smashed the gun onto Jane's head, causing him to lose his balance and fall down. Pike took a piece of adhesive tape from his pocket and smacked it over Jane's mouth. He then rose and kicked Jane in the stomach, causing Jane to rise from the overwhelming pain.

"Now you can shut up." said Pike to a very badly bruised, limping Jane. He held the gun to Jane's throat. "And now I can walk in some peace and quiet."

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 **Okay so that's the end of this chapter. Again a bazillion apologies to all the readers who give me more credit than I really deserve. Please review and comment, it really means a lot to me. I love you all soo much. Again, I'm so sorry.**


	29. Finding her

Jane limped with Pike behind him, the rifle still pressed to his head. His stomach was badly bruised and he mouth was becoming chafed from being stuck for so long. Occasionally, Pike shoved the barrel of the gun at Jane's back; indication of walking faster. He whimpered now and then, because of his bruised leg, and Pike made noises of annoyance and disgust. They were walking through a rather long hallway, with no light to tell him where he was. After walking ten minutes or so, Pike told him to stop. He took handcuffs out of his pocket and cuffed Jane's hands to something; Jane couldn't see what. He then went forward with the rifle and blended into the darkness.

After a minute or two of silence, Jane heard the sound of hinges; of a door opening. At the far end of the hallway, a white light was peeking through something. An outline of a person was approaching Jane. It was Pike, with a bulletproof vest on. He unlocked Jane's hands and pressed the gun to his head again.

 _Oh, come on_ thought Jane. _Can't you see I've nowhere to escape to?_

He pushed him towards the end of the corridor, where the light was coming from. As Jane approached the light, his vision clarified. He could make out the outline of what looked like a chestnut brown Victorian door. Due to being in pitch black darkness for a while, his eyes couldn't adjust to the brilliantly bright light. He averted his eyes, but not after he crossed the doors and stepped into the room they were in.

The room would have been breathtakingly beautiful-with its walnut floor and caramel walls. Lavish silken red carpets were set on the floor. There was a massive oak bed in the corner, with nettings and cushions and everything. It all would have been very beautiful indeed.

If the wall at the far back of the room had not been covered in red smiley faces,

There were at least twenty of them, all dripping the blood and tears of the victims they were taken from. He could hear the victims screaming already, begging _him_ not to hurt them. He could almost hear his cold, cruel laughter as he cut them apart, piece by piece. The color was a horribly dark red; indication of aged blood. Jane felt as if all of were real; as if all of them were smiling tearfully at him.

As if that wasn't enough horror for him, there was more.

Right in the middle of the room was a woman. She was undressed, her body hidden by ropes tying her to a metal chair. Her mouth was gagged with a piece of furnishing cloth. Her face was framed by black wavy hair, falling to her waist. Her eyes were glassy and still, looking like they had no life in them, even though her chest movements showed that she was breathing.

He would recognize those emerald orbs from anywhere.

Lisbon.

He didn't know what to feel suddenly. He finally found the woman he'd given blood and tears and sweat looking for. He had vowed that as soon as he saw her, he would kill Red John and take her away. He finally had a chance to take his Teresa away with him, and keep her safe forever.

And yet here he was-chained like an animal waiting to be killed. He couldn't do anything to save her. Not now, anyway; he will rescue her. He made that vow to himself. She will be safe forever, just like his promises to Cho.

Question is: will he make out alive?

His horror quickly turned to fury. "What have you done to her, you bastard?" he screeched at Pike. " _What have you done?!_ "

"Oh," said Pike smugly. "Just a little sedation I stole from the FBI forensics lab. She's not hurt, though. I'd never ever hurt her."

"Why is she like this?" he shouted back. His voice turned a few shades colder and darker when he spoke again. "If you dare touched her...If you dare, I'll cut off your hands, you dog. You hear me! I'll kill you!"

Pike laughed menacingly. "Oh believe me I wanted to." he sneered. "She made me mad with desire. But the bitch just wouldn't shut up when I tried to. So to quit her yelling, I resisted."

Jane began to shake violently, trying to turn around; but Pike was just as quick. He jammed him on the head with the butt of his gun, and knocked him to the floor. Once he was done, Pike started kicking his stomach so hard; blood came running down his mouth. By the time it was over, Jane was curled up on the floor, clutching his stomach and groaning in pain. He wiped the dark red liquid oozing from his mouth. When he was finished, he slightly raised his head to look at the snarling face of Pike.

"Pike," he whispered. "What happened to you?"

" _Me!"_ he shouted. "What happened to me? What happened to you? Why are you forcing Lisbon to be with you even after you know she's not happy!?"

"I'm not forcing her." he replied. "She came to me by her own will. And as far as I can see, she's happy with me."

"See, that's your problem, Jane." Pike snarled. "You think you know how people feel. You think you know what they should do and shouldn't do. You think it's your responsibility to mess into their lives. Hell, you wouldn't let this world run if things didn't go your way!"

"Pike, you weren't ever like this. I know you. And you know I don't like bothering people."

"Stop denying something which you already know is true! Your only full-time jobs are messing people's lives and breaking hearts and telling lies. Don't you even try to deny that!"

"What about you, huh?" demanded Jane. "What is it you're doing right now? Anything different from what you said I did?"

"This is different." said Pike through gritted teeth.

"It's not, and you know it." he said. "If you truly loved her, you could've seen her happiness and let her go, just like I did the last time. Sure I told her how I felt, but I never told her to leave you; ever." He glared right into his eyes. "Why are you doing this? Why are doing it when you know you don't want to?"

"Don't you dare tell me what I want to do, you sick ass." Pike growled. "Don't you dare."

"You know you don't want to hurt her." he continued. "You know she wouldn't want this, and _I_ know that you want to see her happy. Why are you doing this to us?"

"Because she left me alone!" he screamed. "Do you have any idea what she did to me? Leaving me like that? Kicking me to the curb like I was some piece of junk for her to throw away? You have absolutely no idea how much I loved her. I was going to do anything for her! I had so many plans; a house, kids, a dog. And she just...she just..." he was at a loss for words.

Jane was actually feeling sympathy for Pike but he had to keep him talking. "Yes, but the other reason is weakness." he said as a matter of fact. "You're scared of Red John. You want to quit all of this for her sake, but you know things will get ugly if he knew you turned. You're scared he will make you cry for your mama." Jane was satisfied when Pike's face turned purple with anger. "You are nothing but a petty weak child, Pike. Someone who still doesn't know the ways of the world. You're a little crying mama's boy. That's what you were, what you are and what you'll always be. Look into a mirror and get it confirmed."

A vein was pulsing in Pike's forehead. "You twisted son of a bitch." he paused. "You fucking pig!" he shouted. "I'll kill you. _I'll kill you!_ "

He snatched the rifle from the ground and pointed it at Jane's head. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, someone from behind Jane spoke in a voice they both knew only too well.

"Relax, Marcus." said McAllister's voice. "Let us discuss the matter calmly and rationally. Can you put the weapon down?"

 **A/N: And that's that; another chapter for this fic. Again, please forgive me for being late. Please comment and review; you have no idea how much it means to me. Also please check out the other fanfics I've written! Please review them and tell me what you think. There's another one in progress; about ROTG AND T. Please comment how you liked and if I should continue. I love you all so much. Thank you to all the people who've reviewed me and stuck with me from the beginning to the end.**


	30. How it happened

"Please, my boy." Red John murmured. "Put the weapon down."

Pike hesitated a moment, then shakily nodded with fear and put the weapon down at his feet.

McAllister was dressed casually for a heartless serial killer. He wore a brown t-shirt with blue jeans and black shoes. He was still bald; like the last time Jane saw him. He had a strange gleam in eyes; probably gotten by hearing people scream and seeing them cut.

He looked so normal; but at the same time, he looked monstrous.

Jane was the first to break the silence. "How are you here?" he growled. "I thought I killed you seven years ago?"

McAllister chuckled. "Oh," he said. "My 'resurrection' you say? How that happened? Well the answer is very clear, Patrick. I'm disappointed you don't know."

"Just tell me, you heartless bastard!" Jane shouted.

Pike, who had been quiet the whole time, snatched a pocket knife from his coat pocket and brought it to Jane's throat.

"No, no, no, my boy." said McAllister. "There is no need for that. I'm sure Patrick was lost in anger for a moment. He just failed to see reason in the heat of the moment. Put the knife away."

Pike obeyed. He put the knife away in his pocket and stood brusquely.

"Excellent," said McAllister. "Now for your question, Patrick; you see I wasn't a fool. I knew how close you were to catching me and I knew I had to act. I wasn't going to risk getting caught. That would end all the glory I've earned. So I merely outsmarted you, like I've been doing all these years in our game."

"What did you do?" Jane snarled.

"Ah, you see, I was so unhappy you didn't realize the trickery. You were better than that! But alas, we all have our mistakes. But moving on, my trick was very poetic. Patrick, you never actually saw me at the cemetery. You never actually killed me."

Jane stared at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you see, I gathered a few of my followers; whose voices had close resemblances to mine. I asked them if they were ready to sacrifice themselves for me. And they said yes without hesitation, faithful as they are. I told them that someone had to be sacrificed from there, only one. When they asked why, I told them it was for a noble purpose."

"One of them came forward; and he was absolutely perfect. He had my voice, my build, and my movements. The only thing he needed was a face."

Jane saw where this was leading, and it left him shell shocked.

"So I asked for the help of one of my followers, a head doctor for plastic surgery and he agreed to help me without hesitation and payment; very sweet of him. In a few hours of time, I had a twin standing beside me, waiting to be used."

Jane's jaw fell slack. "You little..."

"That's right, Jane." he said. "Whatever happened at the church, happened to my copy. Difference was that he had a micro speaker in his ear the whole time. And I was giving him instructions on what to say and what to do."

Jane sneered at him in anger. "So that wasn't you?"

He chuckled again. "No Jane, I'm afraid not."

Jane's expression was enough to scare a grown man away.

"Marcus could you please cuff yourself to the door handle?"

"Yes, sir," Pike said, with a confused look on his face. He went to the door and did as commanded.

"Now, your question will be why I did this to you. Why did I waste so much time in this new game? Why did I risk being caught again? Well, you see Patrick, I don't quit. I am merciful, but I don't forgive people who have even slightly ruined my reputation. My glory, my fame; everything was broken, because of you. I have seen everything I've worked for crumble into pieces, losing their meaning."

He walked to the oak table at the far left corner of the room. A box was sitting on it; rosewood covered with red velvet and shaped like a small chocolate box. He opened it slowly and took a surgical scalpel out of it. Scalpel in hand, he faced Jane with a fierce expression.

"Now you shall see the same." he said.

Jane realized what he was going to do and began shaking and thrashing violently. He hadn't realized when, but at some point, Pike made him sit on a wooden chair and had tied him to it. The ropes were so tight that he couldn't even shake out of them.

"McAllister, don't you dare touch her!" Jane shouted. "Don't you dare get your fucking hands on her!"

McAllister was bringing the scalpel to Lisbon's sleeping face.

"Wait, what?" Pike demanded. "What are you doing?"

"Well, I'm fulfilling your wish dear boy." said Red John, looking at him. "I'm finishing the monsters who broke your heart."

"No!" Pike shouted. "This is not what you promised me!"

"Since when does he even _make_ promises?" shouted Jane, still thrashing and shaking violently, ropes chafing his body.

"But I did promise you to get rid of the monsters, my boy! That's what I'm doing right now." Red John brought the knife to Lisbon's cheek.

"No!" Pike shouted. "You promised me you'd keep her safe! You promised me you'd kill him!"

McAllister was pressing the knife to Lisbon's cheek. Beads of blood appeared under the knife. Lisbon's eyes shed tears and her eyebrows furrowed deeply.

" _No!_ " shouted Jane, ripping himself off the chair.

Red John looked back in shock as Jane hurled himself on him. He swatted the blade away from his hands and fell with him on the tiles. Immediately they began fighting. Jane shot his fist to punch McAllister but he was just as quick. He blocked the punch and kicked Jane on the stomach. Jane gasped from the impact but regained himself. He shoved his food into McAllister's nose, satisfied when he could hear a sickening crack. Blood was running down Jane's lips. He was limping again. His face was badly bruised and he had a swollen eye. His shirt was completely torn due to McAllister scratching him sometime in the fight, revealing scratch marks on his back and abdomen. Almost the same could be said for McAllister, but he had a badly cut cheek. Blood was gushing out of it. As he came to hit Jane, Jane slammed him into the wall. He grabbed the scalpel from the floor and held it to McAllister's frightened face.

"Mess with my family?" he growled. "I don't think so."

He was going to stab McAllister in the face when McAllister spoke up. "Marcus," he whispered, motioning behind him.

Jane looked back and saw Pike standing behind him, gun raised. Somehow he'd managed to unlatch the lock on the cuff. He had an unreadable expression on his face.

"Finish him, Marcus." McAllister moaned. "Finish him for life."

Marcus was pointing the gun at Jane, but he turned it towards McAllister.

"You promised me you'd spare her; and you've broken it." he said. "And I'm not letting anyone else break promises to me again."

"No, Marcus." Red John gulped. "Please, no..."

"This time, you'll really go." said Marcus. "And this time, I'll make sure you stay gone."

He glanced at Jane, who nodded.

There was a loud bang as the bullet travelled from the gun's barrel to McAllister's forehead. McAllister's body fell to the ground with a slump.

They both looked at the body, gasping, as blood pooled out of it.

Jane came back to his senses as he heard a feminine moan from behind him. He rushed back to Lisbon and put his hands around her face as she was blinking and coughing. There was a white nightgown draped on the bed. Jane snatched it, hid Lisbon from Pike's view, undid the ropes and quickly dressed her in her nightgown. He put a hand in her hair as Lisbon brushed her bloody cheek and rubbed her eyes. She finally resurfaced.

"What...where...?" she mumbled, looking around. Her eyes quickly settled on Jane. "Jane?" she asked in shock and happiness.

Jane laughed shakily in relief and touched his forehead to Lisbon's. "Yeah, it's me, Lisbon."

"But you're hurt!" she acknowledged in horror, scanning him. "Oh Lord, your back, your face..."

"It's okay." he reassured her. "Don't worry about me."

She stared at him, as if she were processing him. She put her fingers to his lips. "You're...really here?"

"Yes, I am." he whispered. "For you,"

He made her stand up and she looked at him in panic. "Where is my Annie?" she demanded. "Is she okay? Is she hurt? Tell me-"

She was stopped by his kiss. He kissed her softly, shaping his mouth to hers, making sure she was truly there. She kissed him back, moving her mouth with his. He put his hands gently on her waist and she twined her fingers around his neck. They tasted of tears; tears and longing for each other. And that one kiss broke the longing and desire they had for the past one week.

They broke apart and gasped for breath. Lisbon put her head on Jane's shoulder and Jane wrapped his arms around her. They both turned towards Pike, who was giving them the tiniest smile imaginable. Jane smiled back at him.

Until there was a gunshot and Pike's face morphed into pain.

He collapsed to the ground as Cho stood behind him, gun raised. The others were coming into the room. Jane counted them all and shook his head in grief. Eleven agents lost their lives for this mission today. But Jane processed the scene in front of them.

He and Lisbon ran to Pike's side as the other agents lowered their guards, as instructed by Jane. Blood was pooling out of Pike's stomach and spilling onto the floor. Jane and Lisbon glanced at each other worriedly and looked at Pike.

"Teresa," Pike whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"Marcus..." moaned Lisbon.

"I just wanted to keep you with me forever." he whispered. " I'm so sorry. I had no right to decide what was right for you and what wasn't."

"I should also apologize." said Lisbon. "I should have never betrayed you the way I did. I hope you can forgive me."

"I already have." he said, smiling a little. "Now that I see what you have-happiness-" he glanced at Jane. "I already have forgiven you."

She smiled tearfully at him.

"Jane," he said. "I was so stupid."

"Yeah, you were," he said. "For trusting him,"

"I know," said Pike. "Please forgive me if possible."

"I won't forgive you for trying to kill me and steal my wife, but for everything else," he paused. "I forgive you."

Pike chuckled painfully and raised his eyes to the ceiling.

"Take care of her for me." whispered Pike.

"I will." promised Jane.

He smiled a little and closed his eyes. With that, he took his last ever breath and left.

"So long, Pike." said Jane.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They chatted with each other all the way to Jane's house. What happened? What was it like? He was really dead? When did it happen?

Turned out that Rigsby had tracked Jane's earpiece to the basement; they had found the trapdoor and followed the tunnel, leading themselves to the episode they had witnessed.

It was over. It was finally over.

They had taken Jane and Lisbon to the hospital earlier and got them checked up. When the doctor had insisted that Lisbon and especially Jane get bed rest, she had said that she wanted to go home. And so they had been allowed by the hospital to be discharged.

Lisbon couldn't wait to see Annie; and Jane had a feeling that Annie felt the same way.

As soon as they got home, Lisbon shoved the door open and went inside. "Annie?" she called anxiously.

The blonde angel came running down the stairs at the sound of her mother's voice. "Mommy!" she cried happily when she saw Lisbon and gave her a glittering smile. She ran into Lisbon's loving arms; and mother and daughter reunited. She kissed Annie's head and swung her tiny body in the air.

"Mommy, you're home!" Annie crowed in Lisbon's arms.

"I am, angel." she said delightfully. "I am,"

"I missed you so much!"

"I missed you a _thousand_ times more, baby."

"But you're hurt!"

"Oh, mommy will be okay."

They both retired to Annie's nursery. Lisbon promised Annie that she'll read her a story and Annie clapped and laughed in glee.

Jane went outside, where Van Pelt was waiting for him.

"Hey dreamer." she greeted him.

"Hey, yourself,"

"We're going to Pike's funeral; it's polite to give him one. You coming?"

"Yeah," he said. "But not Lisbon; she's gone through hell the last few days."

"Agreed," she said. They were silent for a few minutes after that.

They both looked up at the sky. Night was falling; the sky became inky black and covered with stars and there were delicate puffs of clouds scattered around. The moon was nowhere in sight. It was all very breathtaking indeed.

Something came to Grace's mind, because she looked eager and jumpy all of a sudden.

"What is it?" asked Jane.

"I've got something to do."

"What?"

She told him, and for the first time in forever, Jane listened in silence; without interrupting.

 **A/N: Oh my God, my back is aching so terribly. Can you believe it, team? We actually did it! We actually finished the story! But stay tuned though, because I'll have to post the epilogue. So it's finished, but not quite. Please review and comment; it means so much to me. Please keep your eyes open for the new Mentalist fiction I'm about to post. Thank you all so much for sticking with me from the beginning to the end. I love you all more than anything. Please wish me luck on my next book!**


	31. Epilogue: The Happily Ever After

"Where are you taking us?" asked Lisbon with an overly excited Annie at her shoulder.

"You'll see," said Grace with a smile as the car bumped.

The dial on Rigsby's wristwatch read 10:45 pm. They were all huddled together in the FBI van; Jane, Lisbon, Annie, Grace, Rigsby, Madeleine, Ben, Cho at the wheel, Fischer, Vega, Wylie, Abbott and Dana. Ben and Maddy were asleep on Vega's lap. Everyone else was wide awake with excitement; especially Annie.

"Daddy, where are we going?" she asked excitedly.

Jane patted Annie's hair. "Somewhere magical," he replied. Everyone raised their eyebrows in query; except Grace. She had a gleeful smirk on her face.

"Yay!" squealed Annie. But then her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "But _which_ fairytale are we going to, Daddy?"

"It's a surprise." Grace gently told her.

"Yay!" she said happily. "I love surprises!"

"We're almost there." announced Cho from the driver's seat.

When they all looked out the windows, they sucked in huge gasps of surprise.

There was a Victorian iron gate in front; with gold tips, black fences and intricate silver designing. A golden sign on top read _The Smithson Field._

"No way," gasped Wylie.

Rigsby looked at Grace with his eyebrows raised. "You brought us here for sky watching?" he asked.

"Yep," she said confidently.

"Mom?" asked Maddy, with her brother Benjamin beside her, both awake. "Are we here yet?"

"Yes, honey." said Grace. "Get ready!"

"Oh my God, mom!" Ben complained. "I can't believe you made me sleep on Aunt Michelle's lap!"

"What?" asked Vega skeptically. "You were asleep. I offered to be your pillow for a while."

"I'm fourteen now!" he complained again.

"You'll always be my baby, though." said Grace as a matter of fact.

He snorted in disapproval and annoyance.

Everyone chuckled at their little episode. As they were getting down, Lisbon cupped her hands on Annie's eyes.

"I want to see!" she whined.

"You will!" laughed Lisbon. "I just wanted to give you the surprise."

As they got down from the car, more gasps were heard, this time because they were mesmerized.

The sky was absolutely _covered_ with stars. The twinkling lights almost blinded them. Tufts of back clouds were passing by. They could see a thin crescent peeking out of the clouds. The sky had a navy bluish tint to it. It was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen.

Lisbon freed Annie's eyes. Annie blinked at the stars and gasped. "Wow..." she sighed.

Abbott stared at Jane and Grace. "How the hell did you guys even get this place?" he asked.

"Oh," smirked Grace at Rigsby. "I had to pull in a few strings."

Rigsby paled. "Smithson..." he muttered. He looked slightly horrified when whatever realization he had hit home. "This is not _the_ Smithson is it, Grace?" Rigsby asked hesitantly. "Jones Smithson?"

"The one and only," she grinned back.

"Who's that?" asked Cho, nonchalantly.

"Jones Smithson," Rigsby moaned. "Captain of the basketball team, owner of Gold belt in martial arts, swimming athlete, honor student, popularity rank number four in high school, owns several sky watching venues in the country," he paled. "Grace's ex-boyfriend when she was a cheerleader."

Lisbon widened her eyes skeptically at Grace. "You were a cheerleader?"

She grinned. "More or less,"

Wylie raised his eyebrows. "You pulled in a favor from your ex in front of your significant other?" He glanced at Rigsby. "Damn,"

She laughed in response as a man came running towards them.

He had dark brown hair and slightly tanned skin. All his teeth were perfectly straight and white. His body was very athletic for someone his age. His eyes were chocolate brown; with smile wrinkles around them. When he smiled, dimples popped up. He looked very graceful as he ran towards the lot. He wore a white t-shirt with jeans and black shoes. He had spiked up hair.

Vega swooned. "Wow," she whispered.

Wylie looked worriedly at Jones Smithson and nudged Vega in the shoulder. "Hey..." he whined.

She giggled slightly. "I'm kidding!" she laughed. "It's fun to see my dear hubby get jealous sometimes." She planted a long kiss on his mouth.

"Not funny," he muttered, looking a little dazed from the kiss.

"Grace!" Smithson shouted as he gathered Van Pelt in his arms. Rigsby flinched and cursed silently.

As soon as they pulled apart, Grace kissed him on the cheek. "No funny business, Jones." she warned. "My husband won't take kindly to it." She pointed at Rigsby with a smile.

"I thought that was a joke!" he complained. "You're really married?" he looked disappointedly at her wedding ring.

"Yep," she said with a smile as Rigsby came forward and put his arm protectively around her waist.

She laughed airily in response.

"Well," said Smithson, not very jolly anymore. "Come on then. Welcome to Smithson sky watching field." he walked away with the others in pursuit.

Abbott grabbed Grace's hand and looked at her curiously. "How?" he asked.

Grace smiled at him and then looked at the heavens. "I made a promise to the stars."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jane and Lisbon sat together in blankets, looking at the stars, while the others were scattered around and the children played together in the corner.

"Well," said Lisbon as she sipped her coffee. "We just hurled ourselves off the frying pan."

Jane just looked at the stars and heaved a sigh.

She patted his arm and made him look at her. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"You know," he paused. "When you were gone, I couldn't see the stars. Half the time I wasn't even awake. Unconsciousness from shock, they say."

Lisbon hesitated. "Jane..."

"But when I did see the stars, awake or asleep," he looked at her. "On every one of them I made a wish. I don't need to tell you what I wished for, do I?"

She smiled sadly. "No, you don't." she paused. "That's a lot of wishing, though."

"Yeah,"

They turned their heads toward the ink black horizon, quiet for a few minutes.

Lisbon broke the silence. "I can't promise you that we'll always be safe. I can't promise you that we'll always be together. I can't even promise you that life will never hurt us again. But I can promise you this," she looked directly into Jane's eyes. "Wherever we are, whatever we're doing, we'll always be connected through here." She put her hand on her heart.

"Guess it's up to fate to decide where life's going to lead us." Jane smiled sadly.

"Yeah,"

Lisbon snuggled into Jane's chest as he put his arms around her. "You're not getting away from me again." Jane whispered in Lisbon's ear.

She turned her head towards him and smiled. "No doubt about it."

They looked at the stars upward and sighed. They looked splendid today; glittering more than ever. A comet or two passed by occasionally; and each time they passed they pointed.

"You know," said Jane. "Annie told me you made her two promises?"

"Yeah?" Lisbon looked at him curiously.

"One, you'd take her to preschool." he stated. "And two," he paused. "You'd wish her on her birthday."

Lisbon's eyes widened in shock. "Shit." she cursed.

Jane laughed. "That's okay, I'm sure she'll forgive you." He began to tell her what happened at the party.

Lisbon smiled. Not because of the joke; but because of Jane's laughter, which she guessed was barely heard the last few days.

As Jane chattered away, she looked at the heavenly stars above her and smiled at them.

"Thank you." she whispered.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Wylie and Vega watched from a distance as Jane and Lisbon got up and began playing with Annie. Jane swung Annie in his arms as Lisbon embraced the two of them. One could almost see them glowing with happiness.

"I've never seen them look so happy." Vega sighed.

"Yeah," Wylie said with a smile.

He had his arm around her waist as they sipped coffee together. They went quiet for a few minutes and surveyed the heavens above them.

Wylie hesitated a moment and then spoke. "Vega," he said and took a deep breath. "You ever thought about having kids?"

Vega looked at him in surprise. "Oh," she stuttered. "I, um..."

"It's okay." Wylie reassured, kissing her cheek. "We'll talk about it later."

"No, no, we can talk about it now." She took a deep breath and smiled at him. "I do want them."

Wylie looked surprised. "You do?"

Vega looked at the stars as she answered him. "If you asked me this question four years ago, I would've avoided the subject. But now..." she looked at Wylie. "I mean, look at them all." She first pointed at Jane, Lisbon and Annie and then at Grace and Rigsby. Grace had a giggling Maddy in her arms. Rigsby proudly looked at his son and patted his head. Ben smiled a little.

"In all the years I've known them, I've never seen them so happy." she said. "And I'd like to be happy like that too, someday."

"Someday," he agreed and kissed her.

She smiled at him when they broke apart. She looked at the two families and then at the crescent lighting up the sky.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"I still can't believe you're married." complained Jones.

Grace laughed; partially because of the joke but mostly because of the way Rigsby's grip was tightening on her waist.

"Well, I am!" she laughed.

"And you got busy!" he pointed at Ben and Maddy.

"Shut up!" she laughed again and smacked him in the arm.

"Mom!" called Ben. "We're hungry!"

"Okay, okay, I'm coming." she called back. She looked at the men and smiled. "My mom services are needed right now. So I'll catch you guys later." She ran towards the children and talked to them.

"Well, Wayne," Jones glared at Rigsby. "I guess it's just you and me now."

"Yeah," Rigsby glared back at him.

Jones' expression turned wistful. "You're a lucky man, Wayne." he told him. "Appreciate it."

Rigsby looked at his family. "I always do."

"She was the best decision I made in my earlier life." said Jones. "And I let her go. Please don't ever hurt her the way I did."

"I won't ever hurt her." he promised. "But what went wrong with you two?"

"Well, I fell for a chick named Sarah and I left Grace. Sarah's my ex-wife now. She fooled around with Tom, my best friend. Well, was my friend."

"Ouch,"

"You bet it hurt. So you see, I left someone who truly loved me for someone who didn't. Don't be stupid like me, okay? Don't make the dumb mistake I made."

"Yeah," said Rigsby.

"I've seen how happy she is with you, bro." Jones stated. "Never get that that smile off her pretty face."

"I won't," Rigsby promised.

"Well, look who's getting along well." said Grace as she walked towards the duo. "Maddy and Ben want fries and chicken." she told Rigsby.

He tossed her the keys. "They're in the backseat of the car."

"What did you talk about?" she asked suspiciously.

"A meaningful discussion between two smart men," Jones smirked.

"You bet," said Rigsby.

The trio laughed airily together.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Cho could only count eighty seven stars. Eighty seven stars out of a million.

He didn't know why he was counting them, though. He didn't know why he was wasting time trying to count uncountable lights in solitude; instead of having fun with his colleagues. He should be celebrating his former boss's return. He should be celebrating the glowing aura of happiness all around.

But the truth was that he couldn't have fun. He was looking for something in the stars, he didn't know what. But something he thought he would never find.

Of course he was happy with the situation. Of course he was happy for everyone else. But the happiness around him only made him realize his own loneliness. He could only wistfully wish in his mind for the happiness his friends have. He could only wish he had someone who was more than a friend to him; someone who would give him a shoulder to cry on. Someone he can trust, someone he can share his sorrows and joys with.

He finally had a chance to get that someone; but should he go for it?

He sensed someone standing behind him; feet disturbing the still green grass. "Hey, Kim."

There was a gasp of surprise from behind him. Kim slowly went by Cho's side and sat down on the grass beside him. "How'd you know it was me?"

"Well, everybody has somebody to be with right now. Except you, I mean."

Kim was silent for a while as she stared at the stars.

"I'm sorry." Cho apologized.

"Nah, it's okay. It's true anyway." She looked at him with faintly forlorn eyes.

"Why, what happened with O'Connor?"

"Eh," she avoided his questioning stare. "He cheated on me."

Cho was startled. "With who?"

"Gina Antonio; second floor, in charge of bureau management. Not to mention the fact that she's my assistant."

He looked at her unhappily. "I'm sorry."

"It...wasn't going to work out anyway." She rubbed the goose bumps forming on her bare arms.

He nodded slightly and turned his attention to the stars; and so did Kim. They were quiet for a little while.

Kim broke the silence. "So why are you here?"

He looked sat his feet. "Just going over some things."

"It's none of my business, but we could talk if you want."

He looked into her eyes. "I already told you the initial topic before."

Her eyes widened. "It's Summer, isn't it?"

"Yeah,"

"So what's it about?"

He took a deep breath and exhaled. "Well...Summer got divorced. Will had a ton of problems with holding the family together. I got the news this evening."

"You don't mean...?"

"Yes, I do."

She stared at him for a while. "Well, what are you going to do?"

Cho exhaled. "I don't know really. I don't even know if I have another shot at this."

"You do."

He looked at her in question. "How do you know?"

"I've seen the way you look when you talk about her. I've seen the way you think you'll do anything for her. I've seen the way you love her. Or at least, I've seen only a fraction of how much you love her." She looked at him sympathetically for a moment. "In my opinion, Summer is probably the luckiest girl on earth, having a man like you love her."

Cho smiled a little. "You really think so?"

"I know so." She smiled at him. "Don't break yourself apart like this. Give yourself a second chance. Give _her_ a second chance. I'm sure she's still waiting for you, you know."

He had an almost invisible look of gratitude in his eyes as he nodded towards her with the tiniest of smiles. "I'll take a chance. See how it goes."

She smiled in approval. "That's the Kimball Cho I know."

He chuckled almost inaudibly as Kim held his hand. They shared a smile and began counting the stars together, hopefully doing the so-called impossible.

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One thing could be seen common among each of the members of this twisted friendship tree. One thing could be seen in each laughing individual; happiness. They hope that at least for the present, if not the future, everything will stay perfect.

The End

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 **Well, guys, our journey ends here. At least for now. Thank you so much for your love and support. Believe me I couldn't have done this without you guys. Love you forever.**

 **Keep your eyes open for a trilogy I'll publish. Three fictions in one series. Spoiler: High school is involved.**

 **Bye guys! Peace out from fionawithjisbon.**


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